Reflecting on this past weekend’s G-20 summit on the global economy, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan emphasized the imperative of continuing development aid even in the straights of dire economic times.
“It would be incredibly short-sighted – as well as immoral – for wealthy countries to use this financial crisis to drop promises to help the poorest,” Annan said at a debate in Paris.
This is a point we’ve made before — and one that should prove salient to policymakers. Investing in eliminating extreme poverty around the world is not simply a moral exigency; it is in wealthier countries’ strategic interests to do so. A poorer, more stratified, and likely more extremist world is in no country’s interest.