Agence France Presse (AFP) Several NGOs urge the G20 preserve funds for development aid AFP

| Cannes Updated Thursday 11/03/2011 12:27 hours Several NGOs urge the Heads of State and Government meeting in Cannes (France) for the G20 summit, not to sacrifice development aid under the guise of the European financial crisis and especially the Greek. "The solutions to the Greek situation cannot be loaded on backs of the poorest," said Samuel Worthington, president of the Inter American NGO Action, in a press briefing shortly before the opening of the Summit of the top twenty economic powers in the world. "Development aid should not only continue, but should be increased because it is an investment in the future," declared Mark Fried of Oxfam, a confederation of poverty. "It represents less than 1% of the average budgets of rich countries," he added. NGOs stressed the need to combat food insecurity and rising prices of agricultural commodities. Since the financial crisis in Europe, and particularly in Greece, dominates the G20 Summit, these organizations are concerned that development aid is marginal. "We are here to ensure that development continues at the forefront of the concerns" of the G20. Each decline in development aid budgets "costs lives," reported Mark Fried. "There is a direct link between budget cuts and hunger in the Horn of Africa," he said. All these NGOs, which also included Save the Children and Action Aid, have lent their support to the report commissioned by Bill Gates for the French presidency of the G-20. It prompts you to enter urgently a tax on financial transactions, as well as freight.