Eliminating world poverty: making globalisation work for the poor

While progress has been made over the years in development, many challenges yet remain in order to make globalisation work for the poor. This second White Paper on international development, produced by the Department for International Development (DFID), analyses the nature of globalisation and sets out the UK government’s agenda for managing the process in a way that could ensure that the new wealth, technology and knowledge being generated brings sustainable benefits to those living in poverty.The paper identifies a number of challenges for the future in achieving these goals. They include: meeting the International Development Targets set for 2015 building effective government systems needed to reform economic management, and reducing corruption and conflict in developing countries promoting better health and education for poor people, harnessing the new information and communication technologies to share skills with developing countries creating conditions which attract private financial flows while minimising the risk of capital flight, strengthening the global financial system, encouraging international co-operation on investment, competition and tax that promotes the interests of developing countries and encouraging corporate social responsibility promoting equitable trade rules and an effective voice for developing countries, support continuing reduction in barriers to trade and improving the capacity of developing countries to take advantage of new trade opportunities reducing the contribution made by developed countries to global environmental degradation, ensuring developing country poverty reduction strategies reflect the need to manage environmental resources sustainably, and strengthening their capacity to participate in international negotiations increasing UK development assistance to 0.7 per cent of Gross National Product, in line with the UN target, increasing the proportion of global development assistance spent in poor countries, ending UK tied aid, and providing faster and more substantial debt relief for heavily indebted poor countries committed to poverty reduction building a stronger, more open and accountable international system, in which poor people and countries have a more effective voice.