Reuters: G8 Should Use Any Stimulus Easing to Help Africa: AfDB
The head of the African Development Bank, Donald Kaberuka, has said that The Group of Eight developed nations should use room in their budgets created by any withdrawal of fiscal stimulus to help low-income economies in Africa. At the finance ministers meeting in Lecce, Italy, representatives from the world’s richest nations are considering how to unwind rescue steps for their economies once recovery is certain. Kaberuka said he hopes this creates fiscal space which would make much more robust action for low-income countries possible.

Boston Globe: US Faces Global Health Aid Dilemma
President George W. Bush made major advances in his administration’s campaign against AIDS in poor countries, particularly in Africa. Balancing the still-critical AIDS crisis against the many other problems in developing countries is just one of the dilemmas confronting President Obama as he redefines the American role in global health and development. Deputy Secretary of State Jack Lew says the same health delivery systems that the United States has built to treat more than 3 million HIV/AIDS patients should also be used in poor countries to treat mothers and children with common but deadly ailments. Experts say that while President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton have made good promises on global health funding, solid policy has yet to take shape.

Financial Times: Obama’s IMF Boost Exacts Heavy Toll
This week, Congress is expected to approve President Obama’s request for an extra $108billion for the International Monetary Fund, but the support comes at a political price for the administration, the Financial Times reports. The request, tacked onto a war funding bill, provoked a backlash in Congress as Republicans and some Democrats balked at what they called another bail-out, this time for foreign countries and banks. The administration has had to make compromises – on bills addressing Guantanamo prisoners and the release of photos showing detainee abuse – in order to win over a crucial group of liberal Democrats. These compromises have angered many Republicans and some moderates in the House.

Washington Post Editorial: Zimbabwe’s ‘Transition’
The Washington Post editorial board writes that in Zimbabwe, “A power-sharing deal aimed at restoring democracy has mostly shored up strongman Robert Mugabe.” The editorial urges that Morgan Tsvangirai should not yet receive aid from Western governments, because though Tsvangirai has eased Zimbabwe’s humanitarian and economic crisis, Mugabe’s hold over the state remains unbroken. Instead of giving aid to Zimbabwe, according to the Post, the Obama administration should be urging South Africa’s new President Jacob Zuma to push Mugabe towards retirement.

Reuters: Pope Tells World Leaders to Use Crisis to Fight Hunger
Pope Benedict called on Sunday for world leaders to use the economic crisis as an opportunity to tackle rising poverty and hunger. Policy-makers from around the globe will gather in New York on June 24 for a two-day U.N. summit on the financial crisis and its impact on development. The Pope called the hunger crisis “an absolutely unacceptable reality.”

-Grace Lamb-Atkinson