G8 members cutting African aid target

British prime minister Gordon Brown speaking with former secretary general of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, at Gleneagles in Scotland, in April 2007.
Photograph: Photograph: Ashley Coombes/Bloomberg

LEADERS OF the Group of Eight (G8) rich nations are set to backtrack on their landmark pledge at the Gleneagles summit in 2005 to increase development aid to Africa to $25 billion (€15.84 billion) a year.

A draft communique due to be issued at the group's July summit in Hokkaido, Japan, shows leaders will commit to fulfilling "our commitments on [development aid] made at Gleneagles" - but fails to cite the target of $25 billion annually by 2010.

This goal - repeated at last year's G8 summit in Germany - was seen as an important boost for Africa. The ambitious plan was a cornerstone of former UK prime minister Tony Blair's G8 presidency and was championed by his successor, Gordon Brown.

The dropping of the explicit target marks a further stage in the G8's failure to honour the commitments made in Scotland. Most of the G8 countries' aid budgets have already fallen behind promises to increase overseas assistance.

The step could be awkward for Japan, which has made support for Africa a summit theme, along with climate change. Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda used a meeting last month in Japan with 40 African leaders to announce a doubling of aid to Africa by 2013. Eight African leaders are due to attend the G8 summit on July 7th.

The draft communique, dated June 25th, might still change, diplomats said, with pressure from African countries or the public.

In a further retreat, the G8 is set to abandon its Gleneagles promise to provide universal access to Aids treatment and prevention by 2010. The pledge has been a benchmark around which health campaigners have been organising their work.

The draft says the G8 will continue "working towards the goal of universal access to HIV/Aids prevention, treatment, care", but does not mention the 2010 deadline.

In addition, G8 leaders are divided on how to fulfil last year's Heiligendamm summit commitment to provide $60 billion "over the coming years" for tackling malaria, tuberculosis and Aids, and for strengthening healthcare systems in developing countries. - (Financial Times service)

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times