The annual Davos gathering of corporate wealth and political power turned its lofty gaze on the world's poor on Friday, with delegates chided over failures to deliver on development goals.
Rock star activist Bono, billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon steered the conversation in the Swiss ski resort away from the global economy and geopolitics, towards issues such as infant mortality, poverty alleviation and climate change.
Ban challenged delegates to renew a commitment to the UN Millennium Development Goals, aimed at halving extreme poverty, boosting health and education and further empowering women across the developing world by 2015.
PHOTO: AFP
"Too many nations have fallen behind," he said. "We need new ideas and fresh approaches."
The Davos event has long prided itself on showing the caring side of capitalism, although participants have often been criticized for trumpeting big ideas on big issues in public, while actually expending most of their energy on corridor schmoozing and backroom deals.
Bono, decrying the international community's failure to live up to its promises on development, said it was time to go beyond purely "moral" statements of intent.
"I would like to turn our moral compact into legally binding contracts. Then my advice to the developing world? Get a good lawyer and haul our asses into court," the U2 frontman said.
This year's Davos event has drawn nearly 30 heads of state or government, more than 110 Cabinet ministers and several hundred leaders of industry who, while applauding the cause of corporate responsibility, stressed the inherent constraints they worked under.
"If we lose sight of our core function of serving our customers and creating shareholder value ... we'll be out of our jobs," said Peter Sands, chief executive of international bank Standard Chartered.
Gates, a perennial Davos participant, announced US$306 million in grants to develop farming in poor countries, marking a major push into agriculture by his charitable foundation which has previously focused on improving public health.
"If we are serious about ending extreme hunger and poverty around the world, we must be serious about transforming agriculture for small farmers, most of whom are women," he said.
‘CROSSING THE LINE’: China’s embassy in Seoul criticized US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson, asking if his ‘hostile’ remarks were authorized by Washington South Korea and the US are in talks over recent public remarks by the commander of US Forces Korea, Seoul’s presidential office said yesterday, after the comments drew sharp criticism from China. In a recent podcast interview, US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson described South Korea as “the dagger in the heart of Asia” from China’s east coast, prompting the Chinese embassy in Seoul to say that he had “truly crossed the line.” The interview came amid growing speculation that Washington might seek to expand the role of US Forces Korea in countering the growing regional influence of China, a key
SEEKING ORDER: Rodrigo Paz said that ‘anyone who wants to destroy the nation will have to deal with this president and the full force of the constitution’ Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz on Wednesday said that the nation was at a “breaking point” after nearly a month of protests that have caused shortages of food, fuel and medicine. Paz, who took office six months ago amid the worst economic crisis there in four decades, is battling a groundswell of fury over his policies. The political capital, La Paz, has been besieged by low-income workers and members of the indigenous majority calling for his resignation. “The country needs order and is reaching breaking point,” the 58-year-old said at a public event in La Paz, renewing his appeal for dialogue. On Tuesday, the Bolivian
Australian researchers have trained lab-grown brain cells on a silicon computer chip to play the 1990s shooter game Doom and said they are just scratching the surface of what the neurons could be capable of doing. It is the science-fiction work of biotech boffins at Cortical Labs, who researched and developed the technology that harnesses the workings of the brain’s networking system. Each so-called “biological computer” contains about 200,000 living human brain cells, grown from stem cells that were harvested from blood donations. Having mastered the simple computer game Pong, where a paddle is moved up and down to send a ball
Through the noise of rushing papers and whirring belts at a print factory in Kyoto, two creators watch their photo essay come to life in broadsheet form — part of an effort to win new audiences in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Despite the decline of the publishing industry, self-publication and handmade “zine” magazines are growing in popularity in Japan, reflecting the nation’s enduring love of paper in the digital era. While speaking to Agence France-Presse at the plant, his hands black with ink, one of the creators, Kazuma Obara, said: “I think [paper] is a medium that engages all five
RSS