By now you’ve probably read our pitch for accountability to be a focus of the G8 summit this week in Italy. ONE is calling for all G8 countries to create clear time tables for making up shortfalls in commitments to the developing world, and to discuss plans for post-Gleneagles commitments. In addition, ONE will be pushing G8 countries to make a robust financial commitment for investment in agriculture in developing countries.

ONE is calling for the G8 to commit to:

• Provide $5 billion extra in 2010 on medium and long-term agricultural initiatives in Africa that support technically sound, accountable, country-led plans, while making provisions for a scale-up to $10 billion annually by 2012, committing to delivering $25 billion over three years. The G8 must work with African-led initiatives such as NEPAD’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) on an effective financing mechanism;
• Provide adequate medium term assistance, such as seeds and fertilizers, and extend small scale credit facilities to prevent a descent into hunger and poverty;
• Increase investment in agricultural infrastructure including electrification, irrigation systems, and transportation infrastructure. Market distorting subsidies and import duties and quotas on goods from African countries should be eliminated;
• Provide more funding for research and training to address the needs of smallholder farmer populations, like that conducted through public private partnerships such as the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) or the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR);
• Increase technical assistance for smallholders so they can better access credit and so that rural land tenure systems can be strengthened.

Agriculture is the backbone of the economy in many developing countries, particularly those in Africa, where it employs two-thirds of the population. Investing in agriculture could help bring smallholder farmers into the productive economy, providing increased incomes and greater food security, particularly in rural areas.

You can read more about our G8 pitch on ONE’s G8 Hot Topic page. Be sure to check back there and here on the blog for further coverage of the G8 meetings, which begin this Wednesday in L’Aquila, Italy.

-Beth Adler

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.

(more…)

As you know, Bob Geldof guest-edited Sunday’s edition of the Italian publication La Stampa. In the coming days we’ll be posting English language versions of the featured articles, including this one from Archbishop Desmond Tutu:

A promise to the poor is particularly sacred. It is an act of grace and great leadership when all efforts are made to keep these pacts, and that is why those G8 countries which are leading the charge for the poorest, especially for those in Africa, deserve such credit. But we who praise must also be prepared to censure where it is clearly deserved.

It saddens me that great nations like Italy and France are going in the wrong direction and falling behind with the pledges they made four years ago at the Gleneagles summit. We must all campaign to encourage the forthcoming G8 meetings to get back on track and do what is right.

Of course African development must be driven by African citizens – from all areas of society – but we also need and welcome international support in our struggle against poverty and injustice. That means support from governments, and from good citizens in countries like Italy.

I expect that most of us tend to be deeply distressed, devastated often when we look at the news and see Darfur, Zimbabwe, the Congo. “When are we going to get good news?” we ask. Well I want to tell you that there is good news from Africa.

When I went to Darfur recently, I was particularly struck by those humanitarian workers who keep going back into an awful situation. I want to stand up and shout loudly for the fact that there are so many young people who are incredibly idealistic, who do believe that poverty can become history, who believe that it is possible to have a world without war.

Evil does not have a free rein. I come from a position that says this is moral universe, and good will ultimately prevail. In Africa, just within the past decade, thirty four million more children are now going to school, having the chance to learn to read and write and escape poverty. This is thanks to the efforts of African leadership, and effective aid, including that of G8 countries. It can be hard to imagine that many children, 34 million.

So imagine just one child who can now go to school and receive the gift of education. Give this child the face of a child you know. Give the face a name. It’s not about numbers; it’s about that child – somebody’s son, somebody’s brother.

It is fantastic that this has happened. There is also good news in the fight against illnesses like HIV/AIDS. There are now an estimated three million people in Africa on life saving AIDS treatment. Imagine if you were in a family affected by AIDS, your breadwinner had received a death warrant and you are watching this person slipping away, and then they get antiretroviral drugs and you see a metamorphosis.

We thought our mother was dying but now our mother is well enough to go to work. There are three million such individuals. Because aid has been given. A promise to the poor is particularly sacred. Not keeping that promise is a sin.

ONE is gearing up for this week’s G8 Summit in Italy. While we are encouraged that development issues and Africa will once again be discussed at this year’s summit, we are concerned that the G8 has only one year to meet its historical Gleneagles 2005 commitments and are seriously behind. The G8 have so far only delivered one third of the aid they promised to Africa (See ONE’s 2009 DATA report for more details). In particular, Italy, the host of this year’s G8, has only delivered three percent of its promises over the past four years. With such dismal record on its promises to Africa, one might ask: does Italy have the credibility to lead the G8?

ONE is urging the G8 leaders, Italy in particular, to step up to the promises it made four years ago. ONE will be calling on all G8 nations to produce clear plans and time tables for how they will make up the shortfalls with serious down payments to get back on track.

2010 will be a turning point for Africa. ONE also hopes that the G8 will discuss plans for post-Gleneagles commitments and agree to establish a strategy for 2010-2015 to drive forward progress towards reaching the Millennium Development Goals in partnership with African governments, civil society and the private sector at next year’s summit in Canada.

-Mikiko Imai

As we approach the G8 meeting next week, one of things we’d like to see them commit to is fully funding the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. We’ve known for a while that the Global Fund is facing its first ever financing gap. This is tragic since the Global Fund is sustaining millions on lifesaving AIDS medications and providing tens of millions of bed nets to protect mothers and children from malaria. See the article below from Reuters that explains the funding gap and the potential crisis if it is not filled.

As the G8 convenes this week, we hope that they will, amongst 8 of the largest economies in the world, find the $3 billion needed to keep the Fund fully financed.

Excerpts from Reuters article below, full piece here

GENEVA, July 3 (Reuters) – The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is facing a budget hole of about $3 billion as the recession dries up foreign aid, the Geneva-based funding body said on Friday.

Spokeswoman Marcela Rojo said that $170 million is still needed to pay for the programmes the Global Fund committed to supporting last year, and it will need $2.5 billion to $3 billion to maintain and finance programmes planned for 2010.

“The Global Fund will need a substantially higher amount than the one pledged at the last replenishment in Berlin in 2007 ($10 billion),” she told Reuters, saying fundraising drives in 2010 “will be absolutely critical”.

-Josh Lozman

A Bob Geldof edited edition of the major Italian newspaper “La Stampa” is out and available online on their site today!

La Stampa’s editors turned over this Sunday’s issue to a dedicated Africa/G8 edition, edited by Geldof. The edition features contributions from prominent global figures including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Bono, Kofi Annan and Sophia Loren.

Tomorrow all the articles and op-eds will be available in English too.

On Tuesday, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Grameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus and the former President of Ireland Mary Robinson joined together to present the G8 with one simple request: send every child to school.

In an open letter to the leaders of the G8 countries, the group asked for the G8 to commit to launching a Global Fund for Education. The proposal comes from a pledge made by President Obama himself, which you may have read about here before.

The letter reads:

We are heartened by the commitment of the United States President, Barack Obama, to provide a contribution of at least $2 billion dollars to a Global Fund for Education which would help to eliminate the global education deficit by 2015. Such a bold and ambitious plan should be endorsed by other members of the G8 through a public commitment to such an initiative, which must be launched before the end of the year with full funding. A Global Fund for Education would ensure that the funding shortfall is no longer the main impediment to progress on basic education, and moreover that those investments have the greatest impact on access to and quality of education.

Putting every child in school seems like a tall order, but history has shown that remarkable progress is possible with a combination of dedicated government investment and international support. Ethiopia, for example, was able to double its enrollment rates between 1999 and 2007, leading to a total of 3.3 million more children in school. Increased government spending on education, incentives for girls to enroll and the construction of schools in rural areas all contributed to this impressive progress. Across Africa, stories like this have resulted in 34 million more children in school since 1999.

A Global Fund for Education could help replicate successes like Ethiopia’s by helping to galvanize new momentum toward basic education and reverse the declining investment the sector by international donors. This is more vital than ever given the current global financial climate. In many countries, expenditure on sectors like health and education will be one of the first victims of stretched government budgets, and a skilled, educated workforce will be one of the key ingredients to recovery and fueling long-term economic growth.

We’ll be following the G8 closely next week, so we’ll keep you posted on any new education commitments and hopefully, a plan to launch a Global Fund for Education.

-Nora Coghlan

At the end of last week I attended G8 Development Ministers’ meeting in Rome. It fell the day after the launch of ONE’s 2009 DATA Report in Rome. During the final press conference a journalist asked the Italian Foreign Affairs Minister Franco Frattini what his response was to the Report’s findings – Italy has fulfilled only 3% of its commitment and accounts for nearly half the G8’s total gap for 2008. Frattini, without contesting the content of the Report, replied that Italy is aware of the shortfalls and that it would make up for the 2009 financing gap by the end of 2009! This is quite an amazing statement, particularly given what this would mean in dollar terms combined with the government’s deep cuts in bilateral aid that have been foreseen by the 2009 budget.

During the press conference I had the opportunity to ask Frattini when exactly Italy would pay its full 2009 contribution to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Frattini answered that the relevant appropriation law for this will definitely be passed before the end of this year, and that it’s very likely that it may pass before the G8 Summit in L’Aquila.

The 2009 DATA Report has already had a significant impact in Italy and been covered widely in the Italian media. One example of this was during a press conference with Colonel Gaddafi of Libya, also current head of the African Union, someone asked Prime Minister Berlusconi for his response to the DATA Report. Prime Minister Berlusconi confirmed that Italy would certainly honour all of its commitments. He also stated that donors have to be extremely careful to ensure money given reaches the intended recipients.

This Development Ministers’ meeting was followed by the G8 Finance Ministers’ meeting in Lecce, southern Italy. Unfortunately, there were no major agreements or announcements made on our issues. The focus of the meeting was on the “Lecce Framework” – legal standards being drawn up to try and avoid future economic downturns. Here at ONE we are really concerned about the current and future impacts of the recession on the poorest countries around the world. The Managing Director of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, Kanayo Nwanze, also recently echoed this: “the impact of the financial crisis on developing countries is going to be more visible in several months,” he said, warning that African governments would encounter budget problems in paying civil servants and subsidising food in urban areas.”

Jessica Gomez-Duran