Rome, May 4-5, 2009: The City of Rome today hosted 260 delegates from over 40 countries at the Civil G-8, the forum where representatives of civil society and the most industrialized countries have gathered to tackle some of the most important issues on the agenda for the upcoming G-8 summit. Issues on the agenda include global governance, climate change and the environment, funding for development, health, education, employment, gender equality and the fight against poverty.

The event, organized by the Municipality of Rome in collaboration with the Italian Foreign Ministry and the Italian Coalition against Poverty (GCAP Italy), has been a fundamental leg of the journey toward the G-8 Summit in L’Aquila on July 8-10. The Italian Foreign Minister sent a personal welcome message to all participants.

Civil society groups have issued an official document that was delivered to G-8 countries’ sherpas during the last session of the event. During the roundtable, the sherpas received civil society proposals that will be submitted to G-8 leaders. Italian Sherpa G. Massolo has underlined the importance of the dialogue with civil society, which will provide essential contributions to the upcoming summit.

At the forum, the late Dr. Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem, the Millennium Campaign’s Deputy Director for Africa, together with the Mayor of Rome, officially launched the “Press the 8” Campaign. A huge red button, which symbolizes the pressure civil society exerts on G-8 leaders, was pressed by the Mayor of Rome. He was the first Italian to take this significant action to remind G-8 leaders to keep their promises to eradicate extreme poverty.