Missed Opportunities at Doha

Missed Opportunities at Doha

For Immediate Release:
2 December 2008, Doha

After four days of negotiations among 40 heads of states and governments, more than 3000 participants and discussions in 53 side events the conference on financing for development in Doha ends. With the financial crisis and the Presidential transition in the USA, expectations on this conference had been low - and they were certainly not exceeded.

"Doha was the chance for the rich countries to draw a line in the sand and stop retreating in the fight against extreme poverty. Not in spite but because of difficult times. After much back and forth donors have more or less reiterated their aid promises to the poorest countries. But away from the negotiating tables, these commitments are not yet being translated into action", Oliver Buston, European Director of ONE said.

"Effective development assistance has boosted the number of people receiving life-saving AIDS treatment in Africa from 50,000 people in 2002 to over two million in 2007. Aid has also helped get 34 million African children into school between 1999 and 2006. Despite these impressive results, some rich countries are failing to keep their promises to increase aid. France's recent budget will lead to stagnation in French aid and Italy has just slashed its aid budget. This kind of backsliding must be reversed if the commitments made in Doha this week are to have any meaning. Donors should swiftly move to publish national timetables towards their aid targets", Buston said.

"All eyes now turn to the G20 meeting in London when Africa's needs must be more squarely addressed. When world leaders meet to address solutions to the financial crisis they must remember the impact that the crisis will have on the poorest people in the world, and that the financial crisis comes on the back of food and fuel shocks that have hit Africa hard. We welcome that there will be a UN conference at the highest level in 2009 to assess the consequences of the financial crisis on development", Buston said.

Other notable Doha outcomes:

• Climate: We welcome that the conference acknowledged that the adaptation by the weakest countries to the challenges of climate change cannot be spent from the purses meant for poverty reduction. It is now up to the Poznan Conference to confirm that these substantial additional funds need to be mobilized by donors.
• New Donors: We strongly encourage and support efforts by the gulf states to step up their efforts towards the internationally agreed MDGs, in the region but also in neighboring regions like sub-Saharan Africa.
• Innovative financing: The ideas of innovative finance have been broadly discussed at the conference and will hopefully spark positive developments in the future.

Media Contact in Doha: Sergius Seebohm, Cell: +49 173 249 0094

About ONE   

ONE is a global advocacy and campaigning organization dedicated to fighting extreme poverty around the world, particularly in Africa. ONE is backed by over 2 million people globally.

Working with partners ONE supports the Millennium Development Goals to beat extreme poverty. ONE has helped secure large promises from the G8 and other developed countries to support these goals and is now looking to work with emerging donors in the Gulf region and elsewhere to help boost the global fight against extreme poverty, especially in Africa. Bono is the lead singer of U2 and cofounder of ONE and has been working as an activist for Africa for over a decade, helping secure debt cancellation and increases in aid to fight AIDS TB malaria and boost literacy across Africa.

www.ONE.org