G20 Voice - explained
At the 2009 G20 summit, fifty bloggers - known as G20 Voice - will pull back the curtain as leaders draw up their blueprint for global recovery.
Usually, big international conferences are walled events, with the detail of the discussions taking place well away from the watchful public eye.
Because of the global economic reach of the G20, what is - or is not - decided at the London Summit will have a profound effect on the lives of people everywhere.
Poor countries will face catastrophe if aid money from rich countries declines, or if the financial crisis is used as an excuse for not tackling climate change.
With mainstream media often focusing on a small number of issues, with little coverage on how the G20's decision will affect poor people, Oxfam has helped set up G20 Voice - an initiative where 50 of the world's most interesting and influential bloggers will be your eyes and ears at the G20 Summit.
Who are the bloggers?
The bloggers come from 22 different countries, and together have a combined audience of over 14 million.
Some of the bloggers are from poor countries, and so will help bring a more global perspective to the G20 summit - as even though the G20 is more representative than the G8, the majority of delegates are still from rich countries.
But most importantly, all the bloggers are active citizens, committed to the eradication of poverty and injustice.
The bloggers include Daudi Were (mentalacrobatics.com) and Jotman (jotman.com), both of whom have combined powerful writing and reporting with the global reach of the Internet.
Daubi is recognised as one of Africa's most influential citizen journalists, and Jotman (whose real name is not disclosed for security reasons) posted some of the first images of 2006 Bangkok coup and interviewed escaped monks during the 2007 Burma crisis.
Oxfam's G20 blogger is Duncan Green, Head of Research for Oxfam GB. Duncan is the Author of From Poverty to Power, a book which contains the accumulated knowledge of over 20 years of research and writing. After the launch of From Poverty to Power, Duncan began writing his blog (www.oxfamblogs.org/fp2p) to provide a space for conversation and debate around the issues in the book, and he has - in a relatively short time - built a wide audience of dedicated readers.
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