Living Proof hit Strasbourg yesterday afternoon and never has so much been done in 4 hours!
First stop was the European Parliament’s Development Committee, where Bill Gates answered questions from Members of the European Parliament on everything from investing in agriculture, why child vaccines are good for climate change (they will help reduce population numbers as better life expectancy leads families to have less children) to programmes for hand washing to improve sanitation.
Watch the video of Bill’s presentation and the questions and answers here [click on the 'Language' link on the video to select your chosen language]:
Last week leaders from the United States and European Union met in Washington DC for the regular US-EU Summit.
The team at ONE has reviewed the summit’s declaration [PDF] and picked out some of the key points.
Overall the document contains some very positive language on the need to work together to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015 and development has been ratcheted up the agenda as a focus for cooperation. There’s also a separate annex on Development. The main point is that the US and EU want to work together with more urgency towards the MDG Summit and up to 2015:
‘we recognize that a coordinated international effort is needed to assist developing countries accelerate progress towards the MDGs’
The Declaration itself pledges to re-launch US-EU dialogue on development, and the first meeting to re-launch of this dialogue will happen at ministerial level very soon. Ministerial level meetings will thereafter be annual, with meetings of the re-launched High Level Consultative Group on Development to be held in between.
The Annex to the declaration outlines 3 areas for close cooperation between the US and EU:
Food security and agricultural development: initial focus on Africa, will join efforts in a Global Partnership for Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition; support for the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme.
Climate change: focus on country-driven adaptation strategies and a pledge to concentrate on the development aspects of climate change.
MDGs: ‘recognizes that a coordinated international effort is needed to assist developing countries accelerate progress towards the MDGs’. As well as Overseas Development Assistance, policy coherence for development, aid effectiveness and new innovative financing mechanisms mentioned.There are plentiful references to measuring outputs and results of development cooperation as well as a focus on Accra and aid effectiveness.
The declaration comes at a timely moment at the beginning of a new European Commission and Parliamentary mandate in Brussels, and gives us a good kick-off to help ensure that achievement of the MDGs remains high on the political agenda in both Brussels and Washington DC.
Well, the G8 Summit is now over for another year. It went by in a blur of activity but what came out of it?
Here in brief are the headlines from the communiqués (more will be coming soon):
Agriculture: A chaotic day was made more complicated by the happy surprise of an additional $5bn for agriculture added in the last throes of negotiations so the final read out included $20bn for ‘sustainable agriculture’ in the ‘l’Aquila Food Security Initiative’ (AFSI). The communiqué states that this agriculture funding will be additional to food aid, there are also some very positive new commitments to increase the effectiveness of this support for agriculture.
New money: It’s unclear at present who will give what, and how much will be new money. We do know that the US has doubled their aid to take their contribution from $2bn to $4bn. Italy will pay a disappointing $450m over 3 years and like all the other countries, we need to find out if this is additional (the forthcoming budget will determine overall aid and therefore clarify that) Berlusconi also pledged to pay his 2009 payment of $130m to the Global Fund by the end of the year and $30m extra to fill the Global Fund gap. However, none of this comes near to filling their €411m aid cut
Climate change: The Pittsburgh G20 will also address climate change carbon financing
Trade: Trade Ministers will meet ‘as soon as possible’ and feed back in time for Pittsburgh: there’s a commitment to complete Doha in 2010
Accountability: The G8 published an accountability framework to set out when they have and have not fulfilled their promises. This was a good initiative but we hope that the matrix will be more useful and user-friendly when the next one is published at the next G8
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): Before the next G8 Summit in Huntsville, the G8 needs to show how they will meet the MDGs and this will hopefully mean a 2010-2015 framework to build on next year in Canada
Although we’ve followed the G8 as a whole, we’ve been keeping our eye on 2 leaders in particular – Obama and Berlusconi. We praised Obama for pushing the agriculture initiative and for being one of the only leaders to clearly pledge serious levels of new funding. We hope he will drive forward this initiative at the Pittsburgh G20 summit.
For Berlusconi, here’s what we called for: Reversal of his aid cut, adding another $500m for agriculture immediately, Italy’s 2009 contribution to the Global Fund and a recovery plan for how Italy will meet the Gleneagles commitments he promised in 2005.
Here’s what we got: a commitment to $450m over 3 years for the l’Aquila Food Security Initiative, a commitment to $130m Global Fund payment and $30m additional funding to fill the Global Fund gap, and vague promises for a ‘piano di rientro’ to get Italy back on track towards its Gleneagles commitments (0.33% by 2010 and 0.51% by 2010). That might not sound too bad but it remains unclear how much of that, other than the Global Fund money, will be actually be new money. We will have to do some work around budget law to track to see if Berlusconi follows up on these modest promises.
Anyway, that it’s for now but just wanted to update you on the key headlines from the Summit. And now it’s a case of looking forward towards the next G20 in Pittsburgh this September where we hope to see follow up on the issues raised here. There’s also next year’s G8 Summit in Canada which at the moment looks set to focus on accountability.
The G8 Summit in Italy has been going on for half a day and already the first of a reported 10 communiques has been released.
In predictable fashion, the release of the communique covering the world economy, climate change and development was of great interest to us, and we quickly issued this reaction to it yesterday.
While the scramble for the communique was going on, a group of over 100 journalists were shepherded into an auditorium to meet with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
On development, Berlusconi started by recalling that the Global Fund stands out as a success of the Summit in Genoa, having saved millions of lives since it was founded in 2001. He also said that the 2009 dues would be paid by the end of the year. Otherwise, he referred vaguely to a commitment to increase aid.
No mountains have been moved yet, but we’re working to keep the pressure on for a better outcome tomorrow. More soon!
Sunday’s special edition of La Stampa which Bob Geldof edited, also presented an opportunity for Geldof to interview Italy’s Prime Minister Berlusconi. In the interview, Geldof asks some very pointed questions about Italy’s failure to deliver on their promises to Africa, and the fact that Italy has only met 3% of what it had promised.
Full account of the interview, courtesy of Eloise Todd, below:
Silvio Berlusconi and Bob Geldof met each other in the courtyard of Palazzo Chigi. The Prime Minister was suffering from a stiff neck, but kept the promise to respond to the criticisms of the rock star famous for his public efforts for Africa. Geldof, straight in from London, wanted to go over the questions and data on Italian aid to Africa.
They found each other again a moment later outside the study of the Prime Minister. They sat in the centre, next to one another, their teams were on two sofas facing each other, the advisers of ONE, the NGO for Africa, on one side, and the men of the Foreign Ministry and Palazzo Chigi on the other, including Gianni Letta and Paolo Bonaiuti.
What followed was not a conventional interview, but an exchange which almost resembled a boxing match. I thought at times that first Berlusconi, then Geldof, would get up and abandon the meeting, but in the end they managed to get to the end of the interview and the encounter stayed gentlemanly.
Geldof: “Signor Presidente, let’s get straight to the point. You are the senior statesman of the G8. In 2001 in Genoa, you created the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria, which made ARVs available for free for 3 million people in Africa. Then you participated in the Gleneagles Summit, where you committed to invest 0.51% of GNI in ODA by 2010 and 0.7% GNI by 2015: right now Italy has met only 3% of that promise. From the hope of Genoa to the delusion of Gleneagles: do you feel the weight of this responsibility?”
Berlusconi begins reading from a statement: “You are right. It’s a delay in payments. We, however, were out of government for two and a half years. When we returned, we found a deficit of 110% GDP. Now, because of the economic crisis, this deficit is up to 120% and the European Union will not allow us to stay at this level. When considering the budget law, the Parliament has decided to cut spending. Unfortunately they also cut aid to Africa, and we have started a debate on this. The Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti is committed to getting us back on track with our commitments in 3 years.”
Geldof becomes agitated: “The G8 is in 3 days, not 3 years, as President of this Summit, what are you going to do?”
Berlusconi: “Look, what has happened is absolutely the opposite of what I have been doing personally: this year I financed an orphanage in Thailand and a hospital for children in Brazil. I understand your worry and I very much appreciate the work that you have done for the poorest, but we have had external obstacles standing in our way.”
Berlusconi gives the floor to the diplomatic adviser of Tremonti “we have begun to repay the World Bank our outstanding payments, as well as other international financial organisations. In 2010 we will reach 0.33% of GDP to ODA, and we’ll get to 0.51% by 2015…”
Geldof interrupts: “Excuse me, I am aware of all this. Thanks for the explanation,” and he turns towards the Prime Minister: “I don’t believe you. In order to reach those levels you will have to do an incredible job. And we don’t need any more plans, right now we need action. I’m sick of plans, we just need to act. We must have more ODA. When we cut aid, we take food from the mouths of the starving. We literally take the needles from the arms of patients. Why must we behave like this? Africa is the second biggest emerging market after China. It’s got more democratic countries than Asia. We’re talking about tiny amounts of money: why is it so difficult to find this money for aid? The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel Prime Minister Brown, even President Sarkozy have increased aid, but Italy has cut by €400m. All these countries’ economies are a disaster, but all have kept their promise they made to the poor. Except Italy. How can you lead the G8? Where is your credibility? This is a human question, not a tactical question. We are tired of seeing people that die of hunger!
Berlusconi starts to nod, he has been struck by the image of starving children.
Last week I attended a high-level taskforce meeting on climate change and innovative financing that was part of the 62nd World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland. This precedes a big conference in Paris this week on innovative financing for health.
Dr Philippe Douste-Blazy, Special Advisor to the Secretary-General of the UN in charge of Innovative Financing, proposed the creation of the I-8 Group for the Millennium Development Goals, which brings together United Nations agencies and civil society representatives.
The 8 finance mechanisms are (be prepared for a mouthful):
The International Finance Facility for Immunization, supporting the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations
UNITAID
The Advance Market Commitments for vaccines
The ‘Debt 2 Health’ initiative of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
(PRODUCT) RED
The Responsible Social Investment initiative of the Agence Française de Développement
The use of revenues from the Carbon Market
The Millennium Foundation for Innovative Finance for Health
Last week’s meeting in Geneva was the first meeting of the group. And it was certainly an impressive set of people sat around the table, including Ban Ki-moon (Secretary-General of the UN), Dr Margaret Chan (Director-General of the World Health Organization) and Michel Sidibé (Executive Director of UNAIDS).
Due to the current economic crisis, Ban Ki-moon pointed out that traditional forms of financing for health are under threat as commodity prices are falling and overseas development assistance is under pressure. He made a plea for innovative ideas and for innovative financing to close the gap between what is available and what we need to meet the Millennium Development Goals. He also emphasized that there is a need for creativity around innovative financing and new opportunities but that it is also critically important to strengthen current mechanisms.
Margaret Chan noted that there were 19 men around the table and only one woman, herself. She talked about maternal mortality and made the stark point that in some countries, women are not allowed to give birth when in labour unless they have the permission of the man.
Michel Sidibe, followed on from Chan, and said that this meeting could not have been more timely. The AfDB recently projected that another 27 million people in Africa are at risk of ill health and poverty. Predictable and sustainable financing is key and this innovative financing scheme must help build a fairer globalization. He concluded by saying the following: “If we are going to reach the Millennium Development Goals, we must avoid duplication, resist competition, and put people at the centre”.
Last week I attended the launch of the World Bank’s Global Monitoring Report 2009 in Brussels. The report’s subtitle is ‘A Development Emergency’. A couple of key facts coming out of the report which, although not necessarily new statistics, serve to highlight the ‘development emergency’ as the World Bank calls it:
In 2009, growth in developing countries will be 1.7%, just a quarter of pre-crisis levels; in sub-Saharan Africa it will be 1.6%
The number of poor people will rise in over half of developing countries and in three quarters of countries in sub-Saharan Africa
At the global level, access to sanitation is the most off-track Millennium Development Goal (MDG) after MDG1 on hunger
The report picks out 6 priorities for action: 1) adequate fiscal response 2) improve climate for private investment 3) redouble efforts on human development goals 4) scale up aid 5) open trade system 6) ensure multilateral system has the mandate, resources, and instruments to respond adequately.
Within the report’s main findings, infrastructure investment is presented as a win-win-win, in the sense that it has the highest multiplier effect, it removes bottlenecks to future growth, and contributes to a green recovery.
However, the report states that the infrastructure financing gap for sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is $40bn annually. The World Bank contends that this amount could be reduced by 45% through improved management, efficiency and cost.
In March of this year, ONE undertook some research with ODI and NIESR to show the positive impact that investing $50bn in SSA could have on the world economy- invested in the right way, that development aid could ‘pay for itself’ within 16 years given the positive impact it would have on the global economy.
There was time for some discussion after the presentation of the report during which someone from the UN made a very interesting point. He said that just like with global warming, we need a kind of ‘polluter pays’ principle for this economic crisis. I don’t think we’ve had anything like this kind of ‘speculating countries pay’ idea muted before. The general debate that followed the report underlined the urgency of the whole situation much more. It was suggested that the civil society push is too weak, especially considering we know that there will be 200m more people pushed into poverty (that’s equivalent to around half the population of Europe) and that at least 200,000 children will die per year up to 2015 (that’s 1.2million lives in total). The figures are almost too much to comprehend, statistics which struggle to convey the human suffering they mask. It’s averting those crises that spurs us all on as campaigners.
ONE is campaigning to ensure that the Congressional budget does not cut foreign assistance programs like Feed the Future that help people break the cycle of poverty and hunger.
The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 60 years. More than 11 million people, mostly nomadic pastoralists and farmers in south-central Somalia, north-eastern Kenya, and south-eastern Ethiopia, are severely lacking access to food.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
As aid agencies warn more than 9 million people could be affected by a food crisis in East Africa, world leaders are failing to keep their 2009 promises to tackle the causes of chronic hunger and support farmers in the world's poorest countries.
