Bologna, 11 Dec 2008 - From finance to real economy. Rethinking the economic partnerships to eradicate poverty

In the scenery of the current crisis of global finance and economy, the seminar aims to investigate its effects on the struggle against poverty identified by the MDGs and to understand the reasons that prevent the achievement of the eight goals and what opportunities are still available.

The focus will then be on the coherence of EU development policies and, in particular, on economic partnership agreements between EU and ACP countries. Created with the aim to promote the development in the countries involved, they met the opposition of the civil society of both the North and the South of the world, alarmed by the effects of a further impoverishment that might result.

Both the MDGs and EPAs will be analyzed considering the present economic and food crisis that are affecting many southern countries.

In respect to the choice made by many governments to try to face the global crisis through the state intervention on markets, it becomes even more urgent to review economic agreements , like the EPAs, that would, on the contrary, open the markets, exposing the weakest economies to the fluctuation of international markets.

The opening of the markets of the ACP countries to the foreign investments, as scheduled by the EPAs , might provide incentives to the same financial speculation that caused the current crisis.

It is extremely important to define international economic policies that go beyond these dangerous incoherencies, to define policies able to face not only the financial crisis, but to overcome the food crisis and the environmental crisis too and encourage an inclusive and equal growth.

With a view to the international meetings in 2009 that will see our country as one of the main political and economic subjects, we want to reflect on the role that Italy will actually play and evaluate the coherence of its cooperation policies.

Markets between EPAs and WTO

The theoretical limits and the political contradictions
Undefined commitments for development
The game of help to development to accelerate the negotiations
Fragments of regional developments

Financial crisis, investments and services

The role of foreign investments in the financial and economic crisis
International investments and local development

Food security between international trade and local development

Economic and structural barriers
Rural development policies and food security
Role and requests of farmers associations

International commitments on struggle against poverty

The impact of the economic crisis on the Millennium Development Goals
Commitments on help to development and the role of Italy and its policies