Here’s an interesting point to consider: Although Japan’s earthquake last week was a whopping two magnitudes larger than Haiti’s (approximately 100 times more intense), there were very few injuries or deaths reported in the capital city or anywhere else affected by flood waters. Thanks to strict building codes, land use regulations, and enforcement, Japan was able to keep the death toll down to just a fraction of the casualties from Haiti’s quake last year.

Poor countries simply can’t afford to develop and enforce the kind of complex regulations — like building earthquake-proof buildings — that were set by Japan’s government, and because enforcement agents (when they do exist in poor countries) are paid so little, they are particularly prone to corruption.

Charles Kenny from the Center for Global Development argues that because earthquakes are rare and unpredictable, retrofitting existing buildings and investing in expensive construction techniques might not actually be money well spent in places where preventable disease and malnutrition kill widely and reliably. He points out in a piece for Foreign Policy magazine that there are “a range of interventions that cost less than $2 per healthy year of life saved in the developing world,” meanwhile the costs of retrofitting public buildings in Istanbul was estimated to be around $280,000 per building.

However, early warning systems (EWS) play a huge role in alerting residents to evacuate — but countries have been slow to understand its value…or pass the message along. Although EWS wasn’t much help in Japan’s case (water was rushing “faster than a jet plane” toward its shores), it could have helped save the lives of more than 225,000 people from 14 countries during the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.

As a result of the 2004 disaster, UNESCO set up a global tsunami program to help assess tsunami risk and make sure that tsunami-prone coastal communities are prepared. Unfortunately, the program hasn’t made much headway, and UNESCO’s funding is at risk of being cut by government agencies like the UK’s DfID.

More broadly, efforts to reduce disaster risk have been estimated by the World Bank to return 7 to 1 on investment, meaning that for each dollar invested in emergency preparedness, building codes or resilience building in disaster-prone areas, $7 in emergency response is saved.

Disasters can be traumatic and deadly, as can preventable disease. But at least we know that we can spare lives with better planning, strict guidelines and enforcement for construction in earthquake zones, investment in early warning systems, and efforts to bring adequate health systems, vaccines and nutrition to poor countries. As G.I. Joe used to tell us, knowing is half the battle. The other half, for poor countries, seems to be a serious lack of funding…

On Friday, Japan experienced the most devastating earthquake to ever hit the country, topping the Richter scale at 8.9. Soon after, a massive tsunami struck as a result of the quake, ravaging cities and farmland in northern Japan and even setting off warnings on the west coasts of the US and South America. According to the New York Times, officials have stated that the death toll for one Japanese seaside town alone has reached well over 10,000 people.

As Japan finds itself scrambling with a rescue effort, it now has a nuclear disaster to add to the list: six reactors have faced serious cooling problems, two of which have suffered partial meltdowns and are now dealing with explosions and leaks of radioactive gas.

Humanitarian organizations are currently in the process of reaching out and bringing relief to those affected in Japan, as countless are left without food, water, shelter and medical assistance while searching for missing loved ones.

Many of our partners have responded to the crises in Japan and affected areas. Take a look at some of their efforts in terms of providing shelter and supplies and assisting in search and rescue missions.

Saddleback Church: Saddleback Church’s Peace Relief initiative is a ministry of men and women who have been trained in disaster relief and chaplaincy. They rally small groups to engage local churches as relief centers, link with public and private partners to help provide various relief services, include physical, emotional and spiritual support, empower survivors and fund what’s overlooked.

Save the Children: Save the Children has sent emergency response teams to assess the needs of children and their families in the hardest hit areas between Miyagi Prefecture and Tokyo in Japan. The teams are within 80 miles of the nuclear reactor at Fukushima, where there has been an explosion. More than 170,000 people have been evacuated, and Save the Children is currently establishing evacuation centers in the area and along the tsunami-affected coast, where they will see that children’s needs are met while parents register for help and assistance.

International Medical Corps: An International Medical Corps emergency response team is on the ground in Japan and is assessing post-disaster conditions and prepping critical supplies for delivery to the earthquake zone. Their focus will be on affected communities that have not yet been reached. They will also offer logistical support as needed to local authorities.

American Red Cross: The American Red Cross provided shelter for those forced to evacuate in California, Oregon and Washington. On Sunday, the American Red Cross deployed a disaster management expert to Japan for a week-long mission, where she will work with the Japanese Red Cross (who dispatched 62 response teams within the first 24 hours and have housed more than 300,000 evacuated people) in an effort to best bring relief to affected communities.

USAID: USAID has deployed their Urban Search and Rescue teams to assist in the rescue effort in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami. The teams are comprised of 150 personnel and 12 canines trained to detect live victims, and arrived yesterday morning in Misawa, Japan, where they immediately began the search along Japanese and international search and rescue teams. USAID’s Disaster Assistance Response Team is also in Japan and working to coordinate the overall US Government response effort.

We are hopeful for Japan’s recovery and are glad to see the quick responses from so many humanitarian and aid organizations. Our thoughts are with Japan at this time.

This past weekend, the Democratic Party of Japan won the Lower House election by a landslide. This historic victory by the main opposition party will end more than half a century of almost uninterrupted rule by the Liberal Democratic Party. The president of the Democratic Party, Yukio Hatoyama, will be appointed as Japan’s new prime minister by mid-September.

Many in Japan are predicting that this unprecedented political upheaval will change the way Japan is run. Before the election, the Democratic Party pledged that once in power, it would scrutinise the government’s budget.

So what will this mean for Japan’s international development policies? Despite concerted lobbying efforts by our Japanese NGO friends, international development was not a major focus of any of the parties in this election. Politicians were mainly concerned with Japan’s domestic problems, specifically the dire state of the economy. But in today’s interconnected world, no long term solution for Japan’s revival will be viable unless the poorest parts of the world are fully considered – their economic growth can be part of the long term solution for Japan.

Japan can’t afford to decrease its development assistance budget, which funds programmes that are truly working. I hope that Mr. Hatoyama and his new coalition government will take this into consideration when he goes over Japan’s government budgets!

-Mikiko Imai

African development was again the subject of G8 discussions as world leaders gathered in Toyako, Hokkaido in northern Japan from July 7-9 for the 2008 G8 Summit. While the G8 was confronted with multiple global challenges, including climate change and a weakening global economy, the 2008 Hokkaido Summit marked an important “mid point” moment in the fight against poverty. The Hokkaido Summit came at the critical halfway point to both the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the G8 Gleneagles promises to Africa. The G8 are dangerously behind on their landmark commitments to the region, having delivered only $3 billion of the promised $25 billion in additional assistance to Africa by 2010, according to the 2008 DATA Report.

After difficult negotiations, the G8 summit yielded small gains for the poorest. The bulk of G8 agreements on development and Africa and food security reiterated previous pledges rather than outlining new measures to get the group back on track. The G8 did announce plans for a new effort to tackle the global food crisis, though more details are needed to ensure its effectiveness and delivery. They highlighted the UN High-level meeting on the MDGs in September as an important opportunity to review progress and identify actions needed to overcome remaining challenges.

At a time when G8 credibility is at risk due to slow progress in delivering on commitments, there was a strong call for greater accountability in the G8 Communique. The G8 agreed to track progress against previous commitments in health, education, water and agriculture, as well as its compliance with anti-corruption measures.

Overall, the US, UK and Germany provided strong leadership in negotiations and have significantly increased their funding for Africa in recent years.

After the jump, the following brief overview of outcomes for Africa from the 2008 G8 Summit.

-Ben Hubbard

……

OVERALL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE

Reiteration of 2005 commitment to increase aid to Africa by $25 billion by 2010

The G8 included a reiteration of its 2005 commitment to increase Official Development Assistance (ODA) to Africa by $25 billion a year by 2010 (starting from a 2004 baseline). The G8 also recommitted to their global target of an additional $50 billion by 2010. They did not commit to an accountable timetable for delivering on these 2005 promises. The G8 also made an important acknowledgement that ODA from G8 and other donors may need to increase after 2010 and therefore beyond their current commitments.

HEALTH & INFECTIOUS DISEASES

Reiteration of 2005 commitment to universal access by 2010; new commitment to make progress on malaria

The G8 identified the remarkable successes underway in the fight against infectious diseases as a result of G8 support. The G8 stated that they intend “to honor in full their specific commitments to fight infectious diseases, namely malaria, tuberculosis, polio and working towards the goal of universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care by 2010.” Importantly, the G8, for the first time, provided matrices showing G8 progress in implementing past commitments to ensure accountability. In addition, the G8 committed to work through public and private sector partnerships to deliver 100 million bednets by 2010 as part of a broader effort to deliver on existing malaria commitments.

HEALTH FINANCING

Reiteration of commitment to provide $60 billion for health

The G8 reiterated their 2007 Heiligendamm commitment to provide $60 billion to fight infectious diseases and improve health systems. However, this year the G8 assigned a five-year timetable to the commitment this year. While $60 billion is a large figure, it is not dedicated to Africa or to specific health outcomes nor is it all new financing. Moreover, it does not reflect the likely increases already in the pipeline. For example, the United States Congress passes a $50 billion five-year bill to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria this summer as expected, then the US alone would fill $50 billion of the $60 billion commitment, leaving very little for other donors to contribute.

HEALTH SYSTEMS

New commitment to work toward WHO minimum health worker density

The G8 continued the increasing donor attention to building health systems as a focus of health ODA. They said, “The G8 members will work towards increasing health workforce coverage towards the WHO threshold of 2.3 health workers per 1000 people, initially in partnership with the African countries where we are currently engaged and that are experiencing a critical shortage of health workers.” The mention of the quantitative WHO endorsed baseline of 2.3 health workers per 1000 people is a firm target, but there were not financial commitments made to reach this outcome. A majority of the health portion of the communiqué was focused on health systems and a more comprehensive approach to health development. This is a departure from past G8 Summits. In addition, a separate Summit document titled the “Toyako Framework for Action on Global Health” spells out, in even greater detail, the importance of health systems strengthening in meeting G8 commitments and improving overall health. The G8 “welcomed” this contribution but its recommendations were not adopted in a binding manner.

MATERNAL & CHILD HEALTH

Acknowledgement of need to address slow progress in improving maternal and child health

A separate paragraph on maternal and child health was included in this year’s communiqué. It included recognition that many countries are seriously off-track in their progress towards meeting the MDGs on these two areas. The G8 committed to blending HIV/AIDS programs with sexual and reproductive health programs, a critical part of reducing maternal mortality.

WATER AND SANITATION

Reiteration of the Evian Water Action Plan with stronger accountability

The G8 acknowledged, on numerous occasions throughout the Communique, the cross-sectoral impact of water and sanitation and the slow pace of progress in meeting the water and sanitation MDG targets. The G8 committed to “reinvigorate” their efforts to implement the Evian Water Action Plan from 2003, in which they agreed to prioritize the water and sanitation sector within overall aid levels. Importantly, the G8 also committed to preparing a progress report on G8 efforts in the sector by the 2009 summit. Although the communiqué recognizes the International Year of Sanitation and calls upon national governments to prioritize sanitation, the G8 made no new commitments or financing targets towards scaling up access to sanitation

EDUCATION

Commitment to fill $1 billion 2008 funding shortfall for FTI endorsed countries

The G8 promised to meet the $1 billion funding shortfall for Fast Track Initiative (FTI) endorsed countries in 2008. They also committed to monitoring G8 support to the FTI in a report to be delivered at the 2009 Summit. G8 leaders identified the critical shortages of teachers in Africa and the need to focus on improving learning outcomes in conjunction with increasing access. They also said they would promote synergies between the education sector and other development sectors through, for example, school feeding programs. The G8 did not include the phrase “no country seriously committed to Education for All shall fail for lack of resources,” which marks a retreat from past communiqués.

GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY

Announced plans to establish a new global partnership on agriculture and food security

The G8 announced that since January 2008, they have collectively committed more than $10 billion, for short and long term efforts to respond to the global food price crisis. They did not provide a breakdown of this figure by donor or purpose and did not stipulate a time period over which it would be spent.

The G8 acknowledged that tackling the global food price crisis will require “leadership, ambition, and an appropriate scale of resources.” Without spelling out concrete measures, the G8 announced their intention to launch a new global partnership on agriculture by the time of the UN General Assembly meeting in September. The global partnership would coordinate the international response and ensure a comprehensive strategy to tackle food security in the medium and long term. The partnership would strengthen and build on existing international institutions and facilitate coordinated financial and technical support around country-led processes and local leadership. As part of the partnership, the G8 intends to create a global network of high-level experts on food and agriculture to provide science-based analysis on global needs and future risks.

The G8 called for open and efficient agricultural and food markets and for the removal of export restrictions on food, signaling their support for a process at the WTO that is working to put in place a set of guidelines and agreements on global trade restrictions such as export bans that prolong and aggravate rising food prices or hinder humanitarian purchases of food commodities.

The G8 provided a comprehensive outline of their intended mid-to long term response to food and agriculture, which included reversing the decline in aid and investment to the agriculture sector, fully implementing the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP), achieving a 6.2% annual growth rate in agriculture productivity, supporting research and development, improving infrastructure and food security early warning systems, helping countries adapt to climate change, and ensuring compatibility between policies on sustainable bio-fuel production and food security.

The G8 tasked their Experts Group to monitor the implementation of their Hokkaido commitments and continue to work with the UN-World Bank High Level Task Force on the Global Food Crisis.

TRADE AND INVESTMENT

Reiteration of previous commitments

The G8 acknowledged the impressive growth rates achieved by African countries in recent years and reiterated their support for measures that will lead to increased trade and private investment. Some of these measures include: strengthening the financial sector, improvements in domestic revenue generation, development of road and power networks, boosting agriculture productivity, supporting good governance. It also underscored the importance of the Doha Development Agenda negotiations, particularly the upcoming ministerial meeting on July 21, and committed to work urgently towards the completion of the negotiations. However, the G8 statements on trade did not reiterate the important 2005 commitment to “make trade work for Africa”. The G8 reiterated but did not add to its 2005 commitment to provide $4 billion in trade related assistance in line with the WTO Hong Kong Ministerial conference. The G8 also signaled their full commitment to implement duty-free and quota-free market access for products originating from Least Developed Countries.

GOVERNANCE AND THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION

Reiteration of previous commitments on UNCAC and OECD Convention; support for anti-corruption measures, including StAR Initiative and Africa Peer Review Mechanism

The G8 called for ratification of the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) by all countries and for the development of a review system to ensure compliance (Germany, Italy and Japan have still not taken action on the Convention). The G8 underscored their support for asset recovery efforts, namely the Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) Initiative at the World Bank and called for more technical assistance to help developing countries implement the Convention and undertake asset recovery efforts. The G8 endorsed an annual accountability report that will detail actions each G8 country is taking to implement previous anti-corruption commitments.

DEBT SUSTAINABILITY

Committed to deepen aid dialogue with development partners

G8 leaders expressed their desire to deepen aid dialogues with emerging donors, especially around the issue of debt sustainability. The G8 highlighted the importance of borrowers and lenders pursuing sustainable lending practices so that the gains made from G8 debt cancellation are not wiped away.

PEACE AND SECURITY

No new commitments

The G8 reiterated their commitment to promoting peace on the continent by enhancing Africa’s peacekeeping capabilities through support of the Africa Peace Security Architecture and Africa Standby Force. Support will include training and equipment, sustainable and flexible funding for peace operations, and peace building support for humanitarian, reconciliation, stabilization, recovery and reconstruction efforts.

ZIMBABWE

Pledged to impose further measures (financial and other) against those responsible for the violence; recommended a UN envoy to support mediation efforts

In a separate statement, the G8 condemned the recent election in Zimbabwe and said they would not accept the legitimacy of a government that does not reflect the will of the Zimbabwean people. The G8 pledged to take financial and other measures against individuals responsible for the violence and also called for the appointment of a special envoy of the UN Secretary-General to report on the situation and support regional efforts to mediate between the opposition and the government.

More information:
All 2008 G8 Summit documents are available here.

The media centre thinned out early evening – leaders had headed back home, and many journalists and organisations followed suit. Others were headed for beers, including us! The NGOs had a small get-together at the canteen nearby – it was such a relief to stop for a moment and bond over drinks and food with our friends and colleagues.

Some were celebrating victories, while others were outraged by the result. We can however all claim at least one important albeit small victory – the media coverage of civil society opinions and activities at the G8 this year has been very high, which we didn’t really anticipate. Especially in Japan, where advocacy is still a new concept and NGOs have struggled to be recognized as a credible voice. Hokkaido has been different in this respect – major media outlets have all carried stories and news articles on these ‘outside’ opinions daily. It’s not without problems of course – the Japanese government has refused entry of at least 19 activists into the country – but this year highlighted that NGOs are now established as an integral part of the G8 Summit process and that our voices really do matter.

ONE’s final verdict was that the “G8 post small gains to the poorest, but little that’s new.” While there was some progress, much more needs to be done if the G8 countries are serious about achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), an internationally agreed set of goals that if delivered could save millions of lives.

There’s been lots of chatter here from leaders and activists alike about the UN Special Summit on the MDGs coming up in late September. We hope this moment will provide a stocktake of the current situation and set a clear path for achieving the MDGs. Bob Geldof has already expressed that this will be his next focus and we are right behind him!

One final sliver of good news from the closing day was the commitment for Africa and development to be on the agenda at next year’s G8 in Italy. It will be on the final day which we hope will give us even more time to ramp the pressure up alongside our NGO colleagues. But this work isn’t about one meeting, we will be working hard through the year to ensure that extreme poverty remains top of political agendas. My hope is that if we keep chipping away the world will see fewer people living in poverty or suffering from curable, treatable diseases in a year’s time. For now, we’ll keep fighting!

-Mikiko Imai

Day 2 of the G8 Summit, and it was a key day for the G8 as well as for ONE. A very early start saw, our friend Bob Geldof and a couple of my ONE colleagues meet Prime Minister Gordon Brown of the UK, President George W. Bush of the U.S., Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, as well as top level government officials from other G8 countries to give a last push to agree something big and meaningful for the problems in African and other developing countries. This was our last chance – an agreement on it was due to be reached by the afternoon.

In the afternoon, the ONE team, other NGOs, media, and Bob (in between his busy afternoon of media interviews) all waited with great anticipation for the G8 Summit statements to start coming forward. Apparently, this year was unusual in that the statements were being released to us topic by topic. The first came in the early afternoon, and it was an agreement on the World Economy, followed by a statement on the Environment.

Then, at around 5pm, the agreement on Development and Africa and the statement on Global Food Security were finally released. It was war against time after that – a number of possible outcomes had already been anticipated, and we had been sharing our positions according to different scenarios with our NGO colleagues by then. So when the agreement was finally out, our team all went silent for a few minutes to read the agreements – word by word, then a quick chat with our NGO colleagues, followed by a relatively brief but meaningful conference call with our colleagues in London and in (very early) Washington to finalise our position. We had to get the press release on our reaction out quickly to the media, so that they could include it with their news article on the agreement.

An hour later, when I finished going around the media centre handing out the press release, I finally took a deep breath. As a first timer to the G8 Summit, the whole intensity of it was very new to me.

The outcomes were mixed. A few countries are showing genuine commitment and leadership – the US, UK and Germany, but others are letting the side down. There were a few new stepping stones that we hope will make it even more likely they will deliver on their important promises – a commitment to provide critically needed health workers; 100 million anti-malaria bednets which should save hundreds of thousand of lives; and acceptance that as a group they must be more accountable, highlighting education and water as focus areas. (You can read our press release on the G8 outcomes here).

I have to say, it was personally one of the most interesting days that I’ve had. I felt a real buzz in me to be at the core of where the information of today’s global news was being gathered and honored to represent ONE. It’s just such a shame that none of us felt a true buzz regarding the G8 summit agreement itself…

-Mikiko Imai

G8 leaders pledged, in an official statement to “take further steps…introducing financial and other measures against those individuals responsible for violence.” They also called for a special UN Security Council envoy to report on the situation in Zimbabwe and help mediate.

For the past week, the US and UK have been pushing for the UN Security Council to tighten targeted sanctions. The BBC reports that a sanctions package is expected to be presented to the UN by the weekend and that Russia, which has traditionally been against such sanctions, will not oppose it.

African leaders have expressed reservations against sanctions, favoring some sort of power-sharing unity government, which they called for last week at a two-day African Union Summit in Egypt.

Zimbabwe’s state media reported today that interparty-talks were to resume under the mediation of South African President Thabo Mbeki.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai maintains that his party will not resume talks until the current Zimbabwe government halts all political violence and accepts that Tsvangirai won the first round of elections on March 29.

-Nora Coghlan

There is a new effort to tackle the global food crisis, although the $10 billion pledged since January for agricultural development has no delivery date. The commitment to create a global partnership on agriculture includes some promising elements, but a lot of work needs to be done to turn it into a meaningful response to the food crisis.

Agreement to provide $60 billion over five years to fight disease globally, although a large sum, does not reflect a substantial increase in real terms. This is the same $60 billion announced at the last G8 in 2007 without a time line attached. Nevertheless, agreement to increase the number of health workers in developing countries to a WHO recommended minimum of 2.3/1000 people is welcome.

Progress reports for the next G8 on education spending and on water are signs of a new G8 awareness that their credibility is at risk in Africa and represents welcome developments on accountability to be followed up by Italy as the G8 chair in 2009.

There are some more details in ONE’s recent press release and we’ll be posting more analysis of the agreements here in a bit.

-Nora Coghlan

One main thing we’re asking the G8 to commit to this year is a comprehensive plan focused on boosting food security and agricultural productivity in Africa. Growing concern over rising food prices helped get these issues onto the summit agenda, and ONE has been working to make sure that a concrete action plan comes out of this discussion.

Three-quarters of the world’s poorest people live in rural areas and most rely on agriculture to feed themselves and their families. Many of these people (especially in Africa) cannot grow enough to eat or sell, and have trouble accessing markets that would help them get better prices for their goods. Solving these complex problems requires a dual-pronged approach: firstly, immediate assistance for those in need in the form of food, seeds, and fertilizer; secondly, long-term improvements in agricultural technology, infrastructure, and improved irrigation techniques to generate sustainable agricultural growth.

At past summits, the G8 has stressed the central role that agriculture plays in African development, yet G8 countries have made few commitments to increase funding for Africa’s farmers. As a result, Africa’s agricultural sector has been seriously under-funded in the past 15 years- the percentage of official development assistance that went to agriculture fell from over 16% in 1980 to under 4% in 2004.

In light of the current food crisis and the historic neglect of the agricultural sector, we’re asking the G8 to commit to both long and short-term solutions to boost food security and agricultural productivity. Here are ONE’s three top-line agriculture asks:

• Coordinate urgent needs and global goods: To meet immediate needs for seeds and fertilizer and also longer-term needs for things like research, donors should establish a central body that would coordinate efforts and also identify funding gaps and the resources to fill them.

• Create a central mechanism to coordinate funding for countries’ agricultural plans. Donor support for scaled-up investment in agriculture should be modelled after similar efforts in health and education – where African countries have developed comprehensive, technically vetted plans for developing their agriculture sector, donors should step in to fill the financing gaps to fund the plans. Investments by donors will be paired with resources from African countries, as part of an African commitment to devote 10% of their national budgets to agriculture.
• Dedicate the funding needed to transform Africa’s agricultural sector. Currently global funding for African agriculture is grossly inadequate- $2bn a year. Most estimates of what is needed to pursue an agricultural transformation in Africa suggest an additional annual investment of $9-13 billion over the next 15-20 years. African governments have committed to spending 10% of their national budgets on agriculture, which could yield an $5 billion to this effort and leave an external financing gap of $4-8 billion. The G8 should work with the rest of the donor community to design fill this gap.

Together, these three commitments would not only provide much-needed funding to the agricultural sector, but would also build a structure to allow African countries and G8 donors to work together to develop country-specific plans to improve agricultural productivity and food security. Both short-term and long-term solutions are needed and G8 commitments are essential to make them a reality.

-Sara Rogge, ONE Policy staff

We know that African leaders spoke to the G8 leaders about the importance of keeping their commitments, especially for increasing devleopment assistance to Africa. But, as yet, no clear announcements have been made. We expect some outputs from the G8 on Africa and Development tomorrow as well as a statement on the food crisis – I am keeping my fingers firmly crossed for positive outcomes.

Our own ONE campaigning kicked-off in style too. This morning, Max Lawson and Takumo Yamada from Oxfam and our own Olly Buston packed the room for a media briefing on the G8 and Africa. Olly talked about the G8 countries’ mixed performances on aid – and highlighted the importance of boosting investment in health and agriculture. “The G8 promised at the Gleneagles summit in 2005 in Scotland to boost aid to Africa by a further $25 billion by 2010. But so far the G8 has boosted development assistance to Africa by only $3 billion – It’s fair to say the progress so far has been desperately slow,” he said to an audience of international reporters.

Our other highlight of the day was Bob Geldof’s arrival in Hokkaido in the late afternoon. Even after a long journey from London to Tokyo, another flight to the northern island of Hokkaido and a two hours drive once he landed, his mind was completely focused on the G8 and African issues. Expect to hear a lot more from him tomorrow.

-Mikiko Imai