The Obligations of Rich Countries and World Poverty

I have given as my topic ‘The Obligations of Rich Countries’, but are countries or more precisely states the entities that have obligations with respect to global poverty? Where trade policy is concerned, it is states that are overwhelmingly important. In The Fight Against Poverty, two of the papers are about trade and a half of another is. It is not surprising that these papers focus on the actions of states unilaterally (e.g. antidumping duties or selling subsidized agricultural products on the world market), bilaterally (as with the deals the EU is trying to reach with sub-Saharan African countries), regionally (e.g. NAFTA) or through the WTO. Even then, we should bear in mind the Fair Trade movement, which allows consumers to support companies that guarantee purchases, pay above market prices and provide technical assistance. There are also consumer campaigns to boycott firms making footwear or clothing using child labour or dangerous working conditions. Now, the threat is hardly necessary and firms are anxious to avoid bad publicity. Whether consumers recognize the implication that clothes are too cheap is another matter.