Sam Worthington's blog

Today, transparency is thought to be as essential for effective development as gender equality or local ownership. Without transparency, real accountability is impossible. Without accountability, it is difficult to achieve meaningful, lasting results.

Chronic hunger and undernutrition will be on my radar in 2013 as InterAction’s members intensify their efforts to solve a problem that has no place in the 21st century.

Newly-released figures on world hunger are heartening in their downward trajectory. The rate of undernourished people worldwide has declined over the last two decades. But one in eight people, or 12.5 percent of the world’s population, still suffer from undernutrition, and the rate of progress has slowed in recent years. These hunger figures aren’t just a shock to our global consciousness – they are a call to collective action.

The struggle to achieve personal dreams and goals is a universal one whether you are in London, Darfur or Washington D.C.

Yesterday InterAction launched a series of blogs on the Huffington Post.  This blog series shines light on development issues that must be addressed during the G8 Summit, an annual meeting where heads of state from the Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States gather to discuss issues of global concern. This year, the United States will host the G8 summit at the secluded Camp David from May 18th to May 19th.

Originally published on CNN.com on Nov. 22, 2011. 

CANNES – The end of the G20 summit in Cannes was a blur of activity as an army of reporters scoured through piles of official documents to make sense of the outcome. It was a scene made all the more surreal by the décor in the media center – fluorescent lime carpeting and rows of puce green tables.

Joining reporters trying to figure out the results were about 100-plus accredited NGOs, including InterAction. After days of rumors over what might be in the communiqué, we finally had something firm to respond to.

PARIS - French President Nicolas Sarkozy was clearly in his element as he pointed a finger at the French NGO leader:  "You and I understand each other,” he said.

NGO leaders representing civil society from the North and South, met the French president on Wednesday to discuss core development priorities ahead of the two-day G20 summit in Cannes, which starts today (Thursday). A team of InterAction staff is at the G20 in  Cannes, seeking to get our issues heard and the meeting with President Sarkozy is part of that mission.