G8 Summit in Evian, France
Stale crumbs are all that’s on offer to the developing world from this year’s G8 Summit in Evian, says Christian relief and development agency Tearfund tonight. The G8’s failure to deliver on key poverty issues such as water and sanitation, debt relief and trade is devastating news for the millions of people who live on less than $1 dollar a day.
Speaking of his hopes for the G8 earlier this year, Prime Minister Tony Blair said, “It is becoming clear that we have a profound choice as an international community: continue to make modest progress; or act decisively.” But according to Joanne Green, Tearfund’s Policy Adviser, Tony Blair and his G8 partners have “failed to make even modest progress.”
Diplomatic and political wranglings have dominated this year’s G8. “We have heard much over the last few days about the frosty relationship between George Bush and Jacques Chirac but it’s the poor who have been left out in the cold,” says Joanne Green, Tearfund’s Policy Adviser.
Expectations of progress at this year’s Summit were raised earlier this year when G8 Chair Jacques Chirac placed water and sanitation high on the Evian agenda. Speaking ahead of the Summit he said, “Last summer in Johannesburg, we set ourselves the goal of halving the number of people without access to safe drinking water and sanitation by 2015. Our task is simple now: we must attain this goal.”
But hopes of reaching this goal faded this evening as the G8 failed to commit any new money. The only mention of money for water and sanitation around the Summit table – a European led plan for a 1 billion Euro Water Fund - is little more than a drop in the ocean, compared to the total $30 billion a year that’s needed. “This isn’t even new money – its simply stale crumbs.”
“Its clear that the G8 have bottled out on water and sanitation,” says Joanne Green. “Targets alone are meaningless to the billions of people without safe water to drink and a place to go to the toilet. The G8 hold the purse strings and are keeping them tightly tied.”
Over the 3 days of the G8 Summit more than 170,000 children have died from diseases triggered by a lack of safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene. “Now that G8 leaders have failed to deliver the cash that’s needed to stop this from happening, millions more lives will be lost,” says Joanne Green.
The situation looks bleaker when it comes to two other issues of vital importance to tackling poverty - debt relief and trade. “There aren’t even stale crumbs under the G8 table when it comes to debt relief and trade and this is devastating news for poor countries.”
For every dollar poor countries receive in aid they lose two dollars because of unfair trade. “There’s little point in giving with one hand and taking away with the other,” says Joanne Green. “What’s needed is a complete package of dramatically increased aid, fairer trade and complete debt cancellation. Only then will poor countries be able to work themselves out of poverty.”
Says Joanne Green, “The G8 has been long on fine words and short on genuine commitment to the African ‘scar on the conscience of the world. But yet again rich countries have been found wanting and the hopes of the poor have been dashed. The G8’s credibility on this issue is at an all time low.”