Just over a year after the G8 summit in Edinburgh, what progress has been made on the historic deals agreed by world leaders?
More and better aid
Last year leaders of EU countries agreed to give 0.7 per cent of their national income (GNI) in aid to poor countries by 2015. UK aid reached 0.48 per cent of GNI in 2005, which means the UK should meet its earlier deadline of 2013. In 2005, overall international aid rose by 31.4 per cent from 2004 levels. However, in both cases most of the extra aid was debt relief for Iraq and Nigeria.
Drop the debt
On 1st July the debt cancellation agreements reached at the G8 finally came into effect, although worth $5 billion less than announced at Gleneagles - the result of a cash-saving adjustment. 21 countries have benefited in varying degrees from the cancellation of debts owed to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the African Development Bank, releasing about $1 billion a year for action against poverty. The good news is that there is already evidence of impact – Zambia has recruited 4,500 more teachers, Tanzania has assisted 3.7 million people facing famine as a result of drought. But the G8 debt deal was only one-tenth of what was needed. Nigeria’s debt deal wiped out $30 billion of debt – but the UK received $3 billion as a result.
Trade justice
In 2005, the G8 acknowledged the need for poor countries to decide their own trade policies, but there’s been virtually no progress on making this a reality. The agreement reached at December’s World Trade Organisation meeting did little to help developing countries, and their demands continue to be sidelined.
HIV and AIDS
The G8 committed to coming ‘as close as possible to universal access to treatment for all those who need it by 2010’. But donor governments still need to provide the funding to carry out this commitment.