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British Official Wants Globalization to Help Poor
British Secretary of State for International Development Clare Short said Monday that it is in the interests of the developed world to manage globalization in a way that also benefits the world's poorest.
"There is no safety for anyone in such an unequal world," said the visiting British official in Pretoria at the launch of the Southern African Regional Poverty and Development network sponsored by the South African Human Sciences Research Council.
Short said her government has drafted a white paper entitled " Making globalization work for the poor", which is aimed at achieving a more equitable and safe world.
The white paper committed the his country to increasing its aid budget and to work for debt relief of the poorest countries, according to Short.
Globalization is an unstoppable, inevitable economic and historic force, said Short, adding that the question is how it is managed, rather than how it could be stopped.
There could either be a more mature debate to see how it could be managed to include the poorest, or it could be left on its current course, with even more poor people being marginalized, she noted.
It is likely that a billion people would leave the realms of extreme poverty by 2015 and some sub-Saharan countries, like Uganda and Botswana, are on track for the better, she said.
She praised South Africa's successful economic growth, noting it is needed not only for South Africa, but for the rest of Africa as well.
Because of its more advanced economy, South Africa could provide leadership for the continent, Short said.
About 20 percent of Africa's residents lived amid conflicts, which trapped them in poverty, Short said, while calling for the improvement of the peacekeeping capacity to remove that blockage to economic growth.
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