G8 Leaders Double African Aid To $50 Billion
Thanks to a last-minute pledge from Japan, the G8 have agreed to increase aid to Africa from $25 billion to $50 billion.
The 31st annual G8 summit -- a gathering of the leaders of the world's eight largest national economies -- carried on Thursday despite the bombings in London that killed more than 50. On Friday (July 8) morning, the conference's host, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, vowed to not allow "the shadow of terrorism obscure what we came here to achieve."
The assembled world leaders, who've been meeting since Wednesday in Gleneagles, Scotland (see [article id="1504853"]"What Is The G8, Anyway?"[/article]), are expected to fully detail a massive African aid package Friday that would provide a boost in economic assistance to the world's poorest continent by 2012, according to The Associated Press. The agreement denotes a significant step forward in alleviating Africa's endemic poverty and meets Blair's initial G8 aim of doubling aid to Africa, according to the wire service.
In addition, the G8 pledged to absolve the debts of 18 of Africa's poorest countries, with an additional nine countries being considered should they meet certain established criteria (see [article id="1504881"]"The Road To Live 8: Why Are We Here?"[/article]). The AP reports that one of Blair's other objectives -- convincing the summit countries to commit to increasing foreign aid to 0.7 percent of each nation's economy by 2015 -- is expected to fall by the wayside.
During a speech on Friday, Blair said that the agreement reached "isn't the end of poverty in Africa, but it is the hope it can be ended. It isn't all everyone wanted, but it is progress -- real and achievable progress; it is the definitive expression of our collective will to act in the face of death, disease and conflict that is preventable.
"The $50 billion uplift in aid, the signal for a new deal on trade, the cancellation of the debts of the poorest nations, universal access to AIDS treatment, the commitment to a new peacekeeping force for Africa; the commitment in return by Africa's leaders to democracy, good governance and the rule of law -- it does not change the world tomorrow," Blair continued. "It is a beginning, not an end, and none of it today will match the same ghastly impact as the cruelty of terror."
Blair also revealed that the G8 has agreed to provide the Palestinian Authority with up to $3 billion in "the years to come, so that two states, Israel and Palestine, two peoples and two religions can live side by side in peace."
Little progress was made on one of the Blair's other summit goals -- to reach a compact between the eight nations in the battle against global warming. According to the AP, movement on the initiative has been held up by President George W. Bush, who is refusing Blair's appeal for establishing specific emissions reduction objectives, as well as a timetable by which those directives should be achieved. The U.S. is the only G8 hold-out in the ratification of 1997's Kyoto Protocol, an amendment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which is an international treaty on global warming. Countries which ratify this protocol commit to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases, or engage in emissions trading if they maintain or increase emissions of these gases. A total of 141 countries have ratified the agreement.
"We came here to acknowledge our duty to be responsible stewards of the global environment," Blair said in his statement. "We do not hide the disagreements of the past, but we have agreed [to] a process with a plan of action that will initiate a new dialogue between the G8 and the emerging economies of the world, to slow down and then, in time, reverse the rise in harmful greenhouse gas emissions." That dialogue, Blair said, would begin in November, in a meeting set to take place in Great Britain.
Before Blair's historic speech, French President Jacques Chirac sat down with rock stars-cum-activists Bob Geldof and Bono at his hotel, discussing their efforts to alleviate poverty in Africa, the AP reports. Chirac praised Geldof, the mastermind behind last weekend's Live 8 concerts, for his efforts to raise awareness to the issue of global poverty among young people (see [article id="1505275"]"Live 8 Organizer Bob Geldof Nominated For Nobel Prize"[/article]).
