Hiroshima, the G7 from the point of view of the world’s poor countries: the dossiers that should be looked through and the urgent decisions to be taken

ROME – Around the round table of the G7 in Hiroshima, the heads of state and government of Italy, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union certainly have something to think about and discuss about the urgency of planetary emergencies and that is about the war in Ukraine, about the risks of a nuclear conflict and on the world balance that is being attempted to change. All expected. All logical. But an ever-widening block of civil society from all over the world, represented by NGOs and United Nations agencies, is having a little difficulty considering it right and appropriate that all the energies of this confrontation be hegemonized by the war in Ukraine. Thus strong calls arrive from that part of the world, which speak of promises not kept by those sitting around that table, speak of extreme poverty, inequalities, widespread food crises, hunger which kills more often than a year ago and in increasingly large areas of the world: 828 million human beings do not know where their next meal will come from and between 7,700 and 19,000 people die every day from not having enough food: on average one person every 8 seconds.

Broken promises and growing hunger. Rich G7 countries owe low- and middle-income countries $13.3 trillion in unpaid aid and climate action funding, according to a new analysis from OXFAM. And there is the UN agency World Food Programme (WFP) which recalls how the G7’s commitment to global food security in 2022 should also be maintained in 2023, especially in the face of new crises in Sudan, Haiti and the Sahel area, which are reducing hunger to a number growing number of people. The numbers released by WFP speak of 345 million people currently affected by high levels of food insecurity, an increase of nearly 200 million since the beginning of 2020. Of these, 43 million are on the brink of famine. What’s more: in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Palestine, WFP has had to cut food rations due to lack of available funds, which are not enough to meet needs. Other cuts are expected both in Somalia and in Chad.

The profound global inequalities. Well, this part of the world not represented around that table would like to be able to stir the thoughts of the G7 and lead them to take urgent decisions after having carefully leafed through and read the dossiers that tell how most of the inhabitants of the Earth live and survive: World Inequality Report 2022, reminds us that the richest 10% of the planet’s population owns 76% of the wealth and 52% of the income, while the poorest 50% owns 2% of the wealth and 8% of the income. In short, in the end they would simply like to demonstrate to the heads of state and government meeting in Hiroshima that there are tragedies around the world no less important than the war that is taking place in the heart of Europe.

Those 232 million that the South of the world has to pay: every day. “Despite failing to pay what they owe – reads a document released by OXFAM – the G7 countries and their rich bankers are demanding that the people of the global South pay 232 million dollars a day for debt repayment until 2028. Money that could instead also be spent on health care, education, gender equality and social protection or addressing the impacts of climate change”. “The rich G7 countries like to present themselves as saviors,” says Amitabh Behar, interim executive director of Oxfam International — but what they’re doing is operating a deadly double standard: they play by one set of rules while their former colonies are forced to play by another.”