A New Aid System For The Era of Globalization

Monday, October 10, 2011, 14.30–16.00, Žofín Palace, Conference Hall

In cooperation with The Sasakawa Peace Foundation

 

Jiro Hanyu, Chairman, The Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Japan

 

Motoshige Itoh, Professor, Graduate School of Economics, The University of Tokyo, Japan

 

Wolfgang Michalski, Managing Director, WM International; Former Chief Advisor to the Secretary General of the OECD, Germany

 

Thomas Pogge, Leitner Professor of Philosophy and International Affairs, Yale University, USA

Tetsushi Sonobe, Program Director, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Japan

 

 

Moderator Wolfgang Michalski began the panel by highlighting the statistics of international poverty, stating that there are still some 1.4 billion people who live in poverty around the world. Michalski’s comment regarding the requirement of “an aid system which puts the emphasis on getting the aid effectively to the people and not necessarily to the countries” was echoed by the panel.

 

Keynote speaker Motoshige Itoh began by distinguishing two different types of countries who are of importance in the discussion on aid. The first type, such as China, is a country which “has the capability for dealing with the problem” and “the domestic policy of [these countries] can be very effective”. The second category consists of sub-Sarahan countries, where substantial external support is necessary to change the situation. Itoh stressed the importance of focusing international efforts and resources on urgent poverty while maintaining transparency throughout the process.

 

Speaker Tetsushi Sonobe agreed with Itoh, adding that the system must strive to remember that rule of law is important, as the extreme poor are “not just economically poor, but also politically very weak [and] very silent”, thus making them easily neglected. Professor Thomas Pogge provided a solution by suggesting that there must be “a rule-governed system that would tie the interests of the poor to the interests of [the rich]”. An example of such a system was the Health Impact Fund, which would “reward willing innovators for their innovations on the basis of the health impact of those innovations.” Above all, the new aid system must require collaboration across all donors.