|
A Year After the Gleneagles G8: How Has Africa Fared? |
|
|
|
It has been a year since leaders at the G8 summit in Gleneagles agreed to cancel the debts owed by fourteen African countries. Such a focus on Africa's needs at the last G8 was an encouraging milestone for poverty relief advocates who understand the crippling effects of debt and trade regulations. The fear, however, is that the world's most powerful nations are failing to meet such pledges. Prime Minister Tony Blair announced today that a panel, funded and monitored in part by Bill Gates, will be created to investigate the efforts of the last year. The panel will be chaired by Kofi Annan, Bob Geldof, and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, among others.
Blair acknowledged that the resolutions passed at Gleneagles were highly ambitious and that 'making poverty history' is going to require a much stronger effort by developed nations and African leaders alike. Evidence suggests that little has been done with trade reform, and in order for debts to be cancelled, countries must must pass through a series of economic leaps and bounds. Additionally, aid to most African countries has yet to meet its target.
A consortium of African networks and organizations recently released a joint statement expressing their discontent. It reads: "Simply put, we are disappointed in the outcomes of Gleneagles. The resolutions fall far short of our expectations for a comprehensive and radical strategy to make poverty history in Africa... The debt package provides only 10% of the relief required and affects only one third of the countries that need it... Further, [the package is] still attached to harmful policy conditionality."
The panel has been constructed with such people in mind, recognizing that the promises made last year must be met before Africa can rise out of poverty. Unjust trade restrictions and odious debt are issues that can be changed by the G8 countries if enough of an effort is made. Read the full story from the BBC .
We at AFJN are working toward raising awareness of the debt crisis. Visit our new Want to Help? section for ways you can make your voice heard and join in the global effort to end Africa's debt.
|
|
|
| 
