Fund to help world¡¦s poorest women and children through recession

Women and children would benefit most from an international fund called for to help the world's poorest. Britain has called for the multi-billion rescue package to help the most vulnerable people through the global financial crisis, as economic meltdown threatens to tip another 90 million into poverty. The plan was unveiled by Prime Minister Gordon Brown who wants to win backing for the idea at next month's G20 meeting of the world's biggest economies in London. And women, children, the disabled and elderly would get the most help. The fund would offer basic services, such as feeding children and medical care for pregnant women, and will invest in initiatives to get people back into jobs, including food for work projects. The proposed $5-6 billion rapid response safety-net fund will be administered by the World Bank."This fund will be targeted at the very poorest, helping to keep girls in school, keep food on the table and keep poverty from the door so that when growth returns, people are in a position to contribute to the economy once more," the PM said.

Speaking at a global development conference in London, yesterday, Brown said the credit crunch and resulting oil and food price crisis, had hit "the poorest hardest". Sir Bob Geldof and top officials from the World Bank and World Food Programme also spoke at the two day conference which aimed to find ways to ensure the poorest countries were not forgotten in the response to the financial crisis. New estimates suggest the current crisis could set back the fight against extreme poverty by up to three years, with the number of people living on around a dollar a day or less growing by millions every week, the British International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander said, to Reuters news agency reported last night.

If developing countries are less affected by the immediate fallout of the credit crunch, they may be more vulnerable to the second wave of what has been called a once-in-a-century credit tsunami, Alexander told the conference. And for the poorest people in the least developed countries, this is a crisis upon a crisis, he said, pointing out that it comes on top of last year's food price hikes, which trapped as many as 130 million in poverty. "The human cost of this global recession will be real „o by the end of next year we could see 90 million more people living in poverty," he said.The PM added: "While others may be tempted to shy away from their development responsibilities, we in Britain will continue to meet them and we will meet our promises on aid." Mr Brown also said new measures would be set out at the G20 to "crack down on those tax havens that siphon off money from developing countries".

Written by Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children