The leaders of the G8 were under strong pressure today to live up to their aid promises to the world’s poorest countries as their three-day summit opened against the backdrop of a looming economic crisis commented the Guardian in an article published this Monday.
With the credit crunch and the escalating price of food threatening to divert attention from the fight against global poverty, the G8 met seven invited African leaders for lunch at a luxury resort on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. When it met in Gleneagles three years ago, the G8 pledged to increase global aid by $50bn (£25bn) a year by 2010 and raise aid to Africa, the world’s poorest continent, by $25bn.
But, with only two years to go until the deadline, a monitoring report released last month by the independent African Progress Panel showed the bloc of rich nations was only 14% of the way towards hitting its target. A preliminary World Bank study released last week estimated that up to 105 million more people could drop below the poverty line due to rising food prices – including 30 million in Africa.
“It is important to see this summit as arguably the most important G8 summit in a decade. The world is clearly facing multiple crises: serious, serious economic problems, both rich and poor countries. But it is poor people who suffer the most, suffering hugely from food price increases,” said Max Lawson, an Oxfam policy adviser.
“It is as if the G8 has built a car but they have not put any fuel in it. It is time for that to change.”
The EU executive said it would use the €1bn between now and the end of 2009 to fund seed, fertiliser and other agriculture projects in Africa. This cash would be in addition to €550m the EU has pledged in emergency aid in response to the food crisis.
The G8 on Monday brought together – the US, Japan, France, Britain, Germany, Canada, Italy and Russia – and the leaders of Algeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania.
