HONG KONG DIARY
Mark Fried of Oxfam Canada attended the Hong Kong WTO talks. In this extract from his online diary entry he sums up his feelings on the last day of the talks.
18 December 2005
Oxfam Canada's Mark Fried with the papier maché head of Canadian
Prime Minister Paul Martin. The 'big heads' have become a regular
fixture at trade talks since 2002. Photograph: David Vinuales/Oxfam
The final day of the summit. Culmination of years of effort by millions around the globe to make trade fair.
My hopes were inexplicably high. No reason for it. The rich countries remained defiant, the negotiating process still crudely tilted in their favour. But there I was, so yearning for a breakthrough that I nearly expected it.
Hopes and expectations are always a confusing mix. Hopes keep you going, expectations often let you down. But where does one leave off and the other begin?
The indefatigable Oxfam team was at it all day (and some through the night). From our 7am intelligencesharing, through a morning of gleaning what happened in the Green Room, to quick analysis and reaction when a final declaration emerged at 3pm, then a long evening of media interviews.
This summit was not a turning point in the fight against global poverty. World leaders not only failed to rise to the challenge, they refused to give any quarter. Europe and the US astutely introduced a raft of outrageous new proposals, obliging developing countries to expend their impressive unity and determination fending these off.
We heard of threatening phone calls from Washington and Brussels to developing country leaders, who then tied the hands of their negotiators.
So we ended up much as we began - with an agreement to continue negotiating.
There were a few important achievements: poor countries will be able to defend vital crops for food security and rural livelihoods; US abuse of food aid will be reined in; Europe's subsidies will some day come to an end.
But on cotton, on duty-free access for least developed countries and other key benchmarks, rich countries failed utterly. Most importantly, incredibly, they have still given no guarantee that their dumping will end.
Our campaign clearly helped buttress poor countries' resolve. We made the rich countries work overtime to ply their tricks.
During the final press interviews nearing midnight, hope inexplicably began again to displace disappointment. Am I hopelessly hopeful by nature? Who knows, but the game is not over. Let's keep the heat on.
Read the rest of Mark's diary at: www.maketradefair.com
OXFAM HANDS
OVER THE WORLD'S BIGGEST
ONLINE PETITION AT
THE WTO
Just before the WTO talks opened in Hong Kong in mid December Oxfam was delighted to reveal that 17.8 million people around the world had signed Oxfam's petition to Make Trade Fair. Ireland was one of the largest per capita contributors to the petition.
