Today, ONE is launching its fifth annual DATA Report— our annual exercise in accountability and the final chapter in a series reviewing progress on commitments to Africa since 2005. This year’s report gives a final verdict on the G8’s progress in meeting their Gleneagles commitments to sub-Saharan Africa and recommends a renewed strategy for 2010-2015.
Background
The idea for the DATA Report began in 2005. When we reacted to the unveiling of the historic Gleneagles communiqué, ONE knew that the commitments it included would have a tremendous impact on Africa’s development efforts— but only if they were delivered. The importance of accountability rang clear, even back then, and so every year since Gleneagles we take a day to reflect on the progress made and what has been delivered.
This year’s report follows that same approach, but it takes on special significance because it’s 2010 ¬- the deadline the G8 gave themselves to deliver the Gleneagles commitments to ‘help Africa build the successful future all of us want to see.’ In addition to tracking the commitments and offering a final verdict on progress to date (based on available data and projections of 2010 figures), the 2010 DATA Report draws on the lessons learned over the past five years to offer recommendations for the years ahead, especially the final five years to meet the Millennium Development Goals. The report also evaluates some of the new realities facing Africa, including new stakeholders, new challenges like climate change and the critical importance of African governments’ commitments to their own development efforts.
The Findings
The 2010 DATA Report evaluates the G8’s collective progress on the main commitments and also reviews each country’s progress towards its individual promises.
On Development Assistance:
The DATA Report finds that the G8 will deliver 61% of their promised increases in development assistance to sub-Saharan Africa. Between 2004-2010, the G8 have delivered an historic increase of $13.7 billion, the largest on record from the G7 to sub-Saharan Africa over a six-year time period.
Within the 61%, donor performance varies – the UK is on track to deliver an ambitious commitment (though it is not yet clear how close they will come to the target), while the US, Canada and Japan are on track to meet or surpass relatively modest commitments. France and Germany both set ambitious targets and are on course to deliver about a quarter of them by 2010, while Italy is in a category of its own as the only G7 country to have cut development assistance from 2004 levels. By the end of 2010, Italy will be responsible for an estimated one-third of the G8’s shortfall.
On debt, trade and aid effectiveness:
Despite the historic cancellation of 100% of debt for African countries, the global economic crunch and new lending mean that many countries could be facing a new debt crisis in the coming years. While the commitments on trade and investment were vague and weak, the G7 donors have delivered very little to advance them. Further, while some countries have at least developed country action plans, overall progress has been slow.
On health, education, agriculture and water and sanitation:
Where commitments have been delivered and matched with investments from African governments, impressive results have been achieved: 3 million people with HIV now have access to antiretrovirals in Africa, 42 million children were enrolled in school between 1999 and 2007 and the Global Fund has delivered 104 million bed nets to protect against malaria.
In general, the most progress has been made on certain health commitments but not on building sustainable systems to address basic health in Africa; progress has been impressive getting children into school but more of a focus is needed in improving quality and completion rates; the most ambitious commitments on agriculture are too recent to monitor but funding trends have turned around in recent years while donors may have delivered on the letter of the commitment to water and sanitation, the very vague commitment means that there is little improvement on the ground to show for it.
Looking ahead:
In addition to looking back at progress made, this year’s DATA Report also looks beyond 2010 to what is needed accelerate Africa’s progress towards the 2015 deadline for the MDGs, with an eye to the UN High-Level Summit in September. A new strategy should both take stock of lessons learned since Gleneagles (such as the need for stronger accountability and incorporating new partners) as well as target progress in governance, equitable and sustainable economic growth and further increases in smart, effective development aid that is tailored to achieve results.
The Huffington Post today features an article from Bob Geldof on the DATA Report launch and key findings. In the piece, Geldof has strong words for Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi stating, “Let us watch to see if the Italian Prime Minister understands his global responsibility. Let us see if Italy keeps faith with the world’s poor.”
Poverty must go. Without removing it, we will not have a stable world. The global financial architecture collapsed and now must be rebuilt. One of the reasons this was a failure of the system rather than simply within it was because 50% of the planet, those who live on less than $2 per day, were excluded from it. You cannot live on less than $2 a day. What is more, by excluding them from the world economy, we excluded their creativity, their dynamism, their intellect, their ideas and their productivity. We did great damage to ourselves in doing so.
We mustn’t make the same mistake again as we rebuild a newer world economy. We must include the peripheral peoples in the marginal economies, we must include Africa and Africans if only so that they can buy our stuff and we can buy theirs. And then, as happens anywhere else, the aid question disappears.
We are not there yet. So, for now, aid stabilizes the poor of this world at a base level. It manages sometimes to get to some people so that they get to stay alive with a little bit of food, so they get to stay alive with a little bit of medicine, and so they get a little bit of education. Then with a coherent state they can begin to get going. And to help with that, we look primarily to the G7 — the world’s richest economies, the countries of plenty.
Yesterday, as you know, ONE launched the 2009 DATA Report in London and CNN was there to cover the event. They sat down with panelist Bill Gates to discuss the Report and the state of global development this year.
Thanks to the handy work of our Weldon and Kimberly, we now have videos from this morning’s launch of the ONE DATA Report 2009 in London.
Here’s a 6 minute highlight reel of all of the speakers.
[Panelists: Bill Gates, co-Chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bob Geldof anti-poverty activist and ONE adviser, Dr. Francoise Ndayishimiye, Senior Gender Adviser, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, Arunma Oteh, Vice President for Corporate Services, African Development Bank, Archbishop Desmund Tutu, ONE's International Patron and Jamie Drummond, ONE's Executive Director]
The 2009 edition of the DATA Report, ONE’s annual assessment of the G8′s progress on their commitments to global development, is launching this morning in London at a special kick-off event featuring Bill Gates, co-Chair of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bob Geldof, anti-poverty activist and ONE principal, Dr Francoise Ndayishimiye, of the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria; Arunma Oteh, of the African Development Bank, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Each year, ONE publishes a DATA Report, an annual assessment of the extent to which the G8 are following through on their commitments to global development. Tomorrow we will be launching ONE’s 2009 DATA Report, with a special kick-off event in London.
We have an amazing panel to help launch this report: Bill Gates, co-Chair of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bob Geldof, anti-poverty activist and ONE principal, Dr Francoise Ndayishimiye, of the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria; Arunma Oteh, of the African Development Bank, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
In Germany, we’re planning a press briefing with Tobias Kahler, Andreas Hueber (both ONE staff) and Elizabeth Missokia from HakiElimu in Tansania. Tobias will outline the 2009 DATA Report while Andreas will focus specifically on aid effectiveness. Ms Missokia will offer insight into how donors and partners cooperate in Tanzania to scale up education, and what the Tanzanian civil society is doing to make sure that all funds by donors and government are used in the most effective way possible.
In Rome, we will be briefing journalists at around the same time as London, and telling the story of how this year’s G8 hosts are faring worst on living up to their aid commitments. We will also be highlighting that as the only existing member of the G8 who signed the G8 communiqué in 2005 in Gleneagles, Berlusconi has a personal obligation, as well as a national one to deliver on his promises.
In Washington DC, ONE will be meeting with policy makers throughout Washington to inform them of the findings in the Report.
In the coming days and weeks we’ll have much more on the 2009 DATA Report including an interactive website, a blog series detailing numerous features in the Report, and much more. So be sure to check back often!
This Thursday, we’re releasing the 2009 DATA Report, our annual report on the G8’s delivery on their promises to Africa. At that launch the panelists will answer questions, including one submitted and voted on by ONE members, and Bob Geldof is here to explain why:
In just a short amount of time, ONE members all over the world sent in hundreds of thoughtful questions to be asked at the launch of our 2009 DATA Report. We narrowed down the options and picked out five of the most important questions, and now you get to have the final say on which question will be asked.
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The 2009 edition of the DATA Report, ONE’s annual assessment of the G8′s progress on their commitments to global development, is 
