Japan
In Japan today, the G8 released its agreements on Development and Africa and also Food Security. The bulk of the agreements reiterate previous pledges, rather than promising major new initiatives to get the group on track to meet their promises.
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
[See earlier posts on what we want from the G8 here and here.]
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: (more…)
The G8 Summit kicked-off today in rainy Toyako and first on the agenda, happily for us, was Africa. The G8 leaders, 7 African leaders and heads of the African Union, UN and the World Bank met for a working lunch and into the afternoon.
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
[photo credit: Oxfam Japan]
Ahead of the 2008 G8 Summit which starts tomorrow, the leaders of Canada, Italy, Russia and U.S. all arrived today in the northern island of Hokkaido. But they weren’t the only ones. Hokkaido is hosting NGOs and civil society organizations that have been gathering in the past couple of days from all over the world. Yesterday, some of these NGOs and several thousand citizens staged a demonstration march in the center of Sapporo, the capital city of Hokkaido, to promote their hopes for world peace and greater equality. Check out the people from Oxfam Japan above, wearing large G8-leader masks and yukatas (cotton kimonos) requesting the G8 nations to tackle international problems in earnest.
I also landed in Hokkaido today, and headed straight to the International Media Centre (IMC) of the G8 Summit. The IMC is in Rusutu, a good two hours drive away from the main airport in Hokkaido. I knew I was close when I started seeing rows of security vans and guards in the middle of Japanese countryside. Apparently Japan has spent $280m on security for the G8… Our team set ourselves up in the main hall of the IMC. The place was only 75% full, but during the course of the day and evening, more and more journalists, camera/video men, and NGO guys like us arrived and catching up with each other in their different languages.
The big interest in the IMC today, at least for the Japanese and American journalists, was the bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Fukuda and President Bush. We were glued to the small TV screen listening to the live coverage of the press conference, being held at Toyako. I was happy to hear President Bush passionately say that there is too much suffering in Africa and that G8 must take firm actions to help Africa fight HIV/AIDS and other illnesses. I do hope that he and other G8 leaders follow through with this and make a firm, deliverable commitment this year… Well, I’ll certainly be keeping a close eye on it in the days to come.
-Mikiko Imai
Mikiko Imai works for ONE in Japan. She’ll be reporting in throughout this week on the 2008 G8 Summit in Toyako.
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I’ve just come back from an afternoon tea party on maternal health issues hosted by the wives of two G8 leaders – Mrs. Sarah Brown, wife of the British Prime Minister and Mrs. Kiyoko Fukuda, wife of the Japanese Prime Minister. Mrs. Brown, a Patron of the White Ribbon Alliance, flew in a day earlier than her husband (who’s coming to Japan for the G8, just in case anyone’s wondering…) to talk about maternal health alongside Mrs. Fukuda.
In Mrs. Brown’s speech, she talked about the devastating situation surrounding expectant mothers, babies and infant children in developing countries and how neglected this issue is – the global goal to reduce the number of mothers dying in childbirth by three-quarters by 2015 has made absolutely no progress. She cited the global shortage of 4 million health workers and appealed for the G8 to answer to the calls to secure the investments in women’s health care needed to save lives at the forthcoming Summit in Hokkaido.
Mrs. Fukuda talked about how Japan had managed to overcome high levels of maternal mortality in the recent past and raised the success of the Boshi-Techo (Mother and Child Health Handbook), a book that allows pregnant women and mothers to track their pregnancy and baby’s growth. This initiative started 60 years ago when Japan had a devastatingly high maternity death rate and has had remarkable success since.
After hearing the speeches, there was a traditional English tea (it was at the British Embassy…) and a chance to view an exhibition of beautiful but disturbing quilts made in memory to mothers lost from all over the world. Every piece of quilt had a personal story to it. One quilt depicted a pregnant woman bleeding to death – her name was Khatiza Mai from Pakistan and she had no health care during her pregnancy. As I left the embassy complex, in the middle of sunny Tokyo, I tried to imagine myself in her situation. It was hard – I was born in a modern hospital. Apparently in many developing countries families say goodbye to a woman when she goes into labour – how long will it be before all women are free not to see childbirth as a potential death sentence? I hope the G8 will make progress this week…
-Mikiko Imai (more…)
Moments ago President Bush appeared at the Rose Garden to speak about his upcoming trip to the G8 Summit in Japan. President Bush spoke of the G8 leaders’ 2005 promises to double development aid by 2010, and said one of his major agenda items at the summit will be to rally our partners to “make commitments and meet commitments.”
You can watch video of his remarks below. I also transcribed a portion of his speech. I hope to post the full transcript up here soon.
“Now we need to show the world that the G8 can be accountable for its promises and deliver results…
Accountability is really important when it comes to our work on the continent of Africa. 2005 G8 leaders promised to double development assistance to Africa by 2010. America’s on track to meet our commitments, and in Japan I’ll urge other nations to fulfill their commitments as well.
We must also fulfill our committments in the battle against HIV/AIDS and malaria. I’ve asked Congress to reauthorize and expand the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, doubling our funding for this vital effort. It’s very important that Congress reauthorize this plan, but in the meantime we’re fulfilling our promises that we made, not only to the G8 but more importantly to the people on the continent of Africa.
It’s important that over the next 5 years, we support antiretroviral treatment for approximately 2.5 million people. That we prevent 12 million new AIDS infections and that we care for 12 million people also effected by HIV/AIDS including 5 million orphans and vulnerable children.
Last year the G8 agreed to meet those commitments. They agreed to match. They also agreed to help us reduce malaria in effected-countries by half. I hope that these countries understand the great promise and hope that comes when [clip cuts off here.] So one of my really important agenda items is gonna rally our partners to make commitments and meet commitments.”
President Bush talked went on to talk about healthcare workers, neglected tropical diseases, the food crisis, agriculture and trade.
-Virginia Simmons
UPDATE: Full transcript is now after the jump. (more…)
At past G8 summits, we’ve seen a number of landmark commitments on health – from treating and preventing infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS to improving health systems to eradicating Polio. In fact, it was at the G8 Summit in Okinawa, Japan (the last time Japan hosted the G8) that the initial seeds were sown for the Global Fund. The Global Fund has now saved more than 2 million lives by providing treatment and prevention for AIDS, TB and Malaria.
But eight years after the Global Fund’s inception, the fight against these infectious diseases, and delivering essential health services more generally, is being severely hampered by weak health systems and a critical shortage of health professionals. With this in mind, we’re asking the G8 to deliver a strategy for improving overall health conditions while continuing to vigorously fight infectious diseases. Here are ONE’s three top-line health asks:
1. Develop a time-bound action plan for delivering $100 billion for health: At the 2007 G8 Summit in Heiligendamm, Germany, non-US G8 members promised to provide $30 billion for AIDS, TB, malaria and health systems in order to match the United States’ $30 billion, five-year AIDS, TB and malaria program. That program, known as PEPFAR, will now be authorized at $50 billion over five years. Non-US G8 donors should build on the original spirit of the Heiligendamm commitment by providing a $50 billion match over the same five-year period, and improving the quality of these investments over the same time frame.
By the end of the Japanese G8 presidency, the G8 should provide a donor-by-donor timetable for delivering on this health commitment.
2. Set a numeric target for filling Africa’s critical shortage of health workers: G8 leaders should agree to funding an increase of at least 1.5 million additional health workers in Africa by 2015, with an interim target of at least 600,000 additional health workers by 2012.
According to the WHO, meeting major health-related MDGs, such as universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS, is “very unlikely” unless countries reach a minimum threshold of 2.3 doctors, nurses, and midwives per 1,000 population. In Sub Saharan Africa, this ratio translates to roughly 1.5 million additional health workers, including more than 800,000 doctors, nurses, and midwives.
3. Coordinate new and existing donor resources for health systems and health workers around national health sector plans. The G8 should agree to support the development of, and effective coordination of aid around, national health sector strategies. Assistance should be immediately scale-up in countries that already have rigorous national plans and a process should be developed to ensure all poor countries have the resources to complete donor-ready health sector investment plans.
-Ben Hubbard
