At the World Summit for Sustainable Development, on September 2, British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced an international initiative aimed at preventing mismanagement of revenues paid to developing countries by oil, gas and mining companies. The initiative to build global support for greater transparency in the extractive industry's dealings with governments in the developing world calls for full disclosure of all payments to governments and national authorities. The Publish What You Pay coalition of more than 60 NGOs and civil society organisations from around the world warmly welcomed the announcement and Mr Blair's leadership on the issue, but believes that "regional - rather than a voluntary framework - is required to prevent companies flouting such an initiative. The oil, gas and mining industry is important to more than 50 developing countries, which are home to 3.5 billion people. Yet more than 1.5 billion of these people live on less than 2 dollars per day, while 12 of the world's 25 most mineral-dependent states, and six of the world's most oil-dependent states, are classified by the World Bank as highly indebted poor countries with the world's worst human development statistics."
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