We all know who Robin Hood is: the legendary folk hero gallivanting around medieval England stealing from the rich to give to the poor. He wriggles out of impossible situations, ambushes unsuspecting rich men with Little John and charms his way into Maid Miriam’s heart. 

Now, a new Robin Hood has the potential to make a lasting difference in the world. Today’s incarnation of Robin Hood could help global leaders achieve the millennium development goals, fight extreme poverty around the world and find solutions to climate change adaptation. This same tax also has the potential to deter some of the risky market transactions that have devastating effects on the global economy. 

You wouldn't renovate someone's house without first asking the owner which walls need to come down. You wouldn't paint your living room without asking your spouse if they liked the colour. And you wouldn't buy a car for your family without making sure it was safe. So why should the G20 summit be able to decide on international development programs without the presence of the African Union?

Last weekend the African Union held their 14^th annual summit meeting in Addis Ababa, where they decided to formally petition the G20 for their own seat at the negotiating table during the G20 summit meeting this coming June. The move has been fully supported by the Global Call to Action Against Poverty and its member groups, including Make Poverty History.  

The first ever World Pneumonia Day ended two hours ago. Pneumonia kills a child every fifteen seconds and is the leading cause of death among children under five. That’s like 2 million children every year.

There are vaccines and cheap treatments for this. This is one of the issues we can deal with right now if there was the political and civil society will to do so.

CANADA HAS KEY ROLE TO PLAY TO KEEP POOR ON THE AGENDA

World leaders have taken an historic and welcome step in bringing emerging market nations to the table of global decision-making.

While the new order recognizes the shifting dynamics of economic and financial strength among the world nations, MAKE POVERTY HISTORY CANADA along with many other organizations working on behalf of the world’s poorest, are concerned that low-income countries still do not have a voice among the powerful.

Pittsburgh

Well, this is my second G-Summit – and there are still more hard lessons to learn. Harder to swallow too, since life for the world’s poorest has become even more wretched since last July’s G8 in Italy.

It’s an even tougher slog here, getting the needs of the neediest on the media’s agenda, let alone the attention of 20 of the world’s most powerful leaders – emerged and emerging. 

Everyone’s obsessed with whether or not there should be some kind of cap on bankers’ bonuses.  Ok..hurrah..we’re all for that here in the anti-poverty ranks…but it ain’t likely to happen kiddo - even if Obama himself chastised Wall St for paying out over $18 billion in bonuses while the economy was tanking.   Pretty galling when you realize that $16 billion is what’s needed to provide education for all.

I was on the CPAC show "Primetime Politics" yesterday, analyzing how the latest G20 meeting will impact the world's poorest. You can check out the interview here on YouTube or on the CPAC website here.

The G20 meeting of the leaders of the world's largest economies responded to pressure from people around the world and agreed to give billions more to help poor countries affected by the global economic crisis.

But they will deliver these new resources mostly through existing International Financial Institutions such as the IMF, the World Bank and regional development banks, who have in the past insisted on failed policies of globalization as a condition for poor countries getting their help.

The government has said that aid for the world's poorest is going to be 'secondary' at the G20 meetings next week.

Read more at the Ottawa Citizen "Aid to poor 'secondary': Harper aide"

Clearly we need to put more pressure on the government to help the worlds' poorest.

It's strange that the government is backtracking now, as just a little over two weeks earlier, all the parties in Parliament - including the Conservatives -  agreed that the G20 should address the needs of the world's poorest.

A Conservative Prime Minister wrote an opinion piece in the Globe and Mail today, calling on Canada to help out the poorest nations during this financial crisis. 

"Parts of the poor world will suffer much more from this crisis than most of the rich world."