Digital solidarity put to the test by the financial crisis.

 

t is in periods of crisis that political actors reveal their ability to govern. In the financial turmoil that is currently shaking industrialised countries, political actors have taken appropriate action to influence the course of events. There was a proliferation of meetings at the highest level. The danger was huge, as the crisis cast doubt over fundamental political and economic choices. And, in the blink of an eye, in the name of necessity, hundreds of millions of euros have been made available to alleviate the shortage of funds of banking institutions and ensure the survival of businesses.

In 2000, with great solemnity, all the heads of state and government met in New York to proclaim, loud and clear, their intention to reduce world poverty. They gave themselves fifteen years to achieve this. Eight years later, instead of stepping up their aid by at least 50 billion dollars a year as promised, official development assistance (ODA) is actually falling in all the countries of the OECD and the European Union. Yet no summit has been called to demand that, come what may, we remain on course for the goals set in 2000. Admittedly, the danger is not imminent, and does not jeopardise the foundations of the systemor the privileges of the world’s wealthy. But it does condemn to poverty hundreds of millions of men and women who were not fortunate enough to have been born in the right part of the world. The excuse that there is insufficient public funding to achieve the goals set in 2000 no longer holds weight. The response of political leaders in Washington and Paris to the financial crisis proves this. There is simply a lack of political will.

This political will, which is so badly needed when it comes to development cooperation, was, however, apparent at the “Summit of Cities and Local Governments of the Mediterranean”, which recently took place in Malaga. Although the scope of the event was only Mediterranean, local representatives from the region agreed to apply a new financial mechanism to reduce the digital divide, one of the major causes of the maldevelopment that affects the majority of the world’s population. Shaking up the administrative and legal inertia, they publicly declared that they will implement, within their jurisdictions, the “1% digital solidarity contribution” proposed by the Global Digital Solidarity Fund (DSF). With this decision, they have demonstrated their ability to lead. Through their commitment, they are proving that, in spite of the considerable reduction in ODA, thanks to new financial mechanisms, it is possible to stay on course for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Thanks to this innovative mechanism, some thirty billion euros could be raised at no cost to public authorities nor overall, to businesses. That sum would be enough to meet the challenge of providing access to knowledge for several billion people who are currently excluded from the information society.

 

 

Addressing different issues, meetings of politicians in Washington, Paris and Malaga have shown that they are still able to govern, and that with political will and a minimum sense of justice and equity, even the MDGs can be achieved. Private sector leaders who have publicly subscribed to the millennium commitments, acknowledging their social responsibility, should remember this when they are called upon to respond to the urgent demands of those excluded from the knowledge society, who are condemned to poverty.

In the coming weeks, two events will allow political and economic actors to reaffirm the commitments they made in 2000 and their sense of equity: firstly, the Lyon Conference on Digital Solidarity, organised at the initiative of President Nicolas Sarkozy and, secondly, the follow-up conference on financing for development which will take place in Doha, under the aegis of the United Nations. Can we keep putting it off?

Alain Clerc, Executive Secretary