The DATA Report, which ONE launched in Paris on Wednesday, tracks each G8 country’s progress towards delivering its commitments on aid to Africa.

This year’s report found that although U.S. delivery has been slower than hoped, increases in assistance primarily for HIV/AIDS and malaria (areas in which the U.S. is a clear leader) are starting to come. By next year, we predict the increases will double and analysis shows that by 2010 the U.S. is likely to have delivered on its commitment.

Though good news, it’s our job to make sure this actually happens! You can help by signing the PEPFAR petition.

At a time when the U.S. is electing a new president, we hope the current commitments will be seen as a floor to build upon. The U.S. commitment was smaller than others when you compare it to the size of our economy, so now that the U.S. looks likely to achieve this commitment, it would be good to see the U.S. take leadership and make a bigger commitment.

Here are the numbers:

· 2010 Target for ODA to Africa: $8.8bn

· 2007 ODA to Africa: $5.414bn

· Change in ODA to Africa between 2006-2007: $413m

· Change in ODA to Africa between 2004-2007: $581m

· % of increases achieved: 15

· Increase needed between 2007-2008: $1.2bn ($1.1bn in 2004 prices)

· Estimated increase between 2007-2008: $940m ($868m in 2004 prices)

(More G8 countries’ reports to follow.)

-Josh Lozman

From the AP:

“PARIS (AP) — Bono, Bob Geldof and other celebrities pressed the world’s wealthiest countries Wednesday to come through with more pledged financial aid for Africa…

“What this big, long, exact, cold and brutal analysis shows us is that halfway to this historic date of 2010 — halfway — these wealthy countries … have delivered 14 percent. How tragic is that?” Geldof told reporters in Paris….

The report said that 2.1 million Africans are on life-saving AIDS drugs, up from 50,000 in 2002; that 26 million children were immunized against life-threatening diseases from 2001 to 2006; and that 29 million children in Africa entered school for the first time between 1999 and 2005 because of debt relief and increased aid.”

Stay tuned for more posts about details in the report, or check it all out yourself here.

Halfway to 2010, only 14% of the G8’s promise to Africa has been delivered.

In 2005, the G8 made a series of commitments to Africa that included a doubling of development assistance to the continent by 2010 and a collection of specific pledges like achieving universal access to AIDS treatment, supporting universal primary education and making trade work for Africa. Today in Paris, ONE launched the DATA Report 2008 (http://one.org/report/en/index.html), which monitors G8 progress towards these goals. This year’s report shows that the G8 are falling further behind on their 2005 commitment to contribute an additional $22 billion in assistance to Africa by 2010. The G8 are halfway to the 2010 deadline, but so far have only delivered $3 billion, or 14%, of the $22 billion commitment. If the G8 continue at their current pace, they will not keep their promises to Africa.

There is also good news. As you have read in this blog many times before, the assistance that has been delivered is making a real, measurable difference on the ground, saving lives and brightening futures for millions of Africans. Because of recent increases in development assistance:

· 2.1 million Africans are on life-saving AIDS medication, up from only 50,000 in 2002.

· 26 million children were immunized and against a group of life-threatening diseases between 2001 and 2006,

· 29 million African children were able to enter school for the first time as a direct result of debt relief and increased assistance between 1999 and 2005,

· 59 million bed nets had been distributed by the Global Fund alone, helping to dramatically reduce malaria rates in countries such as Tanzania, Rwanda and Ethiopia.

These statistics are proof that aid works and that G8 failure is unacceptable. There are no more excuses for the G8 not to deliver what it promised in 2005. The DATA Report lays out a clear roadmap for how the G8 can get on track to meet their 2010 goals by scaling-up measures that have been proven to work.

Read more about the DATA Report’s specific findings on development assistance. (more…)

ONE just wrapped up the launch of the DATA Report 2008 in Paris. What an event! We had an amazing group of panelists that included rockstars, advocates, development experts and doctors. A room full of journalists seemed to get the message loud and clear: aid is delivering remarkable results across Africa. Now we need to get this message to the G8 so they can get to work on making sure that their commitments to Africa are met by 2010.

At the Press Club near the Arc de Triomphe, ONE was joined by: Bono; Bob Geldof; Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS; TB and Malaria, singer and activist Angelique Kidjo; Arunma Oteh, Vice President, Corporate Services of the African Development Bank and French tennis star Yannick Noah.

Stay tuned here for some footage of the event and an analysis of the report’s findings.

(You can also read the summary and download the whole report here.)

-Josh Lozman

Early tomorrow morning, the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will release preliminary foreign aid, or “official development assistance” (ODA) numbers for 2007 for the 22 member countries of the committee. The release will estimate how much each of these governments gave to poor countries in 2007.

Right after the DAC numbers are published, check to the ONE Blog tomorrow for our initial findings on how donor countries are doing on their promises to increase foreign aid, and more specifically, double aid to Africa by 2010.

In June, before the G8 Summit in Japan, we’ll release the 2008 DATA Report, which is a full analysis of how the G8 countries are doing on their aid promises to Africa.

Some more background on the DAC nummbers:

As part of their membership in the OECD/DAC, donor countries must report these figures each year and allow the OECD to release them. Each year, the DAC releases preliminary numbers in April for the previous year (in this case 2007) and then releases final numbers in December.

The members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) include all G8 countries as well as other wealthy countries. They full list:

Australia
Austria
Belgium
Canada
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Luxembourg
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Portugal
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom
United States

-Sara Rogge, ONE Senior Trade Advisor