G8 leaders agree $50 billion aid boost

[sabra]

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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L08544744.htm

G8 WRAPUP 4-G8 leaders agree $50 billion aid boost
08 Jul 2005 13:16:40 GMT

Source: Reuters


GLENEAGLES, Scotland, July 8 (Reuters) - World leaders announced a $50 billion boost in development aid on Friday, declaring the deal was a message of hope that countered the hatred behind the London bomb attacks.

"We speak today in the shadow of terrorism but it will not obscure what we came here to achieve," British Prime Minister Tony Blair declared, flanked by fellow leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) rich states and seven of their African counterparts.

Blair, who skipped much of Thursday's session to handle the aftermath of the bombs in London which killed more than 50 people, did not give a timetable for reaching the aid target.

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[justinsb]

1. Kudos to Blair

It's not perfect, but it's a good start and it will certainly be appreciated by the people who's lives it saves. Not much of a Blair fan these days, but gotta give credit where it's due.

[LivingInTheBubble]

2. its a poor token.

$50B over the next 5 years? We spent more killing people in afghanistan and iraq. I dont think blair deserves any credit at all.

[justinsb]

3. Like I said,

It's not perfect. But it's a start and without Blair there I don't think there would have been anything at all. 10 Billion a year is a huge amount of money in Africa, it will save alot of lives. Is it enough? No. But ask the children it does save if it was a good thing or not.

[Squatch]

4. It's a "start"???

"It's great that so many are finally noticing the tragedy of Africa. But sadly, historical evidence says that the solutions offered by big plans are not so easy. From 1960 to 2003, we spent $568 billion (in today's dollars) to end poverty in Africa. Yet these efforts still did not lift Africa from misery and stagnation."

Link

If this is a start, what have the past 45 years been?

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. Note this is an increase *to* $50 billion, not *of* $50 billion

The Reuters story hsa been revised to start:

G8 leaders agree big aid boost for Africa

World leaders agreed on Friday to more than double aid for Africa to $50 billion, presenting the deal as a message of hope that countered the hatred behind the London bomb attacks.
...
The G8 said annual development aid to Africa would increase by $25 billion by 2010, more than doubling the 2004 level.

They also said overall annual development aid -- currently around $50 billion -- would increase by $50 billion by 2010.

"The world's richest nations have delivered welcome progress for the world's poor people but the outcome here in Gleneagles has fallen short of the hopes of the millions around the world campaigning for a momentous breakthrough," said Jo Leadbeater, head of policy for the aid agency Oxfam.

And ActionAid provided a breakdown of the extra $25 billion - most of it had already been agreed well before the G8 summit:

· Most of the EU aid package re-announces existing commitments - in 2010, just $6bn will be new money for Africa that was not already in the pipeline. France and the UK had already pledged to go beyond the 2010 and 2015 targets, in reaching 0.7% by 2012 and 2013 respectively. Five member states currently contribute above the 2010 target of 0.51%. If adhered to, the EU aid announcement will generate significant new money for Africa from just three member states: Germany, Italy and Spain, which between them will account for 65% of the increase. Yet Italy and Germany are also the countries where the commitment to the aid package is weakest: the finance ministries have distanced themselves from the pledges, which were made by their development ministers, and described them as aspirational rather than binding.

· The US has recently announced a provisional doubling of aid to Africa. The details of the package are still sketchy, but if fully implemented would raise US aid to Africa from $4.3bn in 2004 to $8.8bn p/a by 2010 - a $4.5bn increase. Of this, $3bn is already in the pipeline through the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) and George Bush's HIV-AIDS initiative, PEPFAR. Therefore the package represents $1.5bn in new appropriations for 2010, with no new money anticipated before 2007.

· Prime Minister Koizumi of Japan has recently pledged to 'double aid to Africa in three years time', mainly by reallocating aid from China rather than increasing its overall budget. Japan's annual aid to Africa stood at $1bn, so a further $1bn may be available from 2008.

· In conclusion, the current $25 billion aid package contains approximately $8.5bn of new money p/a by 2010, at least half of which is highly provisional. So far this year, no G7 country has committed new money to be spent in 2006.

http://paulmason.typepad.com/newsnig8t/2005/07/aid__now_we_are.html#more