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ONE on ABCnews.com
Over the weekend, ABC News online featured a great segment about the G8 Summit in Italy. ONE’s advocacy around this and past G8 Summits features prominently.
Check it out!
-Chris Scott
G8 Summit Wrap-Up
Well, the G8 Summit is now over for another year. It went by in a blur of activity but what came out of it?
Here in brief are the headlines from the communiqués (more will be coming soon):
- Agriculture: A chaotic day was made more complicated by the happy surprise of an additional $5bn for agriculture added in the last throes of negotiations so the final read out included $20bn for ‘sustainable agriculture’ in the ‘l’Aquila Food Security Initiative’ (AFSI). The communiqué states that this agriculture funding will be additional to food aid, there are also some very positive new commitments to increase the effectiveness of this support for agriculture.
- New money: It’s unclear at present who will give what, and how much will be new money. We do know that the US has doubled their aid to take their contribution from $2bn to $4bn. Italy will pay a disappointing $450m over 3 years and like all the other countries, we need to find out if this is additional (the forthcoming budget will determine overall aid and therefore clarify that) Berlusconi also pledged to pay his 2009 payment of $130m to the Global Fund by the end of the year and $30m extra to fill the Global Fund gap. However, none of this comes near to filling their €411m aid cut
- Climate change: The Pittsburgh G20 will also address climate change carbon financing
- Trade: Trade Ministers will meet ‘as soon as possible’ and feed back in time for Pittsburgh: there’s a commitment to complete Doha in 2010
- Accountability: The G8 published an accountability framework to set out when they have and have not fulfilled their promises. This was a good initiative but we hope that the matrix will be more useful and user-friendly when the next one is published at the next G8
- Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): Before the next G8 Summit in Huntsville, the G8 needs to show how they will meet the MDGs and this will hopefully mean a 2010-2015 framework to build on next year in Canada
Although we’ve followed the G8 as a whole, we’ve been keeping our eye on 2 leaders in particular – Obama and Berlusconi. We praised Obama for pushing the agriculture initiative and for being one of the only leaders to clearly pledge serious levels of new funding. We hope he will drive forward this initiative at the Pittsburgh G20 summit.
For Berlusconi, here’s what we called for: Reversal of his aid cut, adding another $500m for agriculture immediately, Italy’s 2009 contribution to the Global Fund and a recovery plan for how Italy will meet the Gleneagles commitments he promised in 2005.
Here’s what we got: a commitment to $450m over 3 years for the l’Aquila Food Security Initiative, a commitment to $130m Global Fund payment and $30m additional funding to fill the Global Fund gap, and vague promises for a ‘piano di rientro’ to get Italy back on track towards its Gleneagles commitments (0.33% by 2010 and 0.51% by 2010). That might not sound too bad but it remains unclear how much of that, other than the Global Fund money, will be actually be new money. We will have to do some work around budget law to track to see if Berlusconi follows up on these modest promises.
Anyway, that it’s for now but just wanted to update you on the key headlines from the Summit. And now it’s a case of looking forward towards the next G20 in Pittsburgh this September where we hope to see follow up on the issues raised here. There’s also next year’s G8 Summit in Canada which at the moment looks set to focus on accountability.
-Eloise Todd
ONE’s Eloise Todd asks Berlusconi a question
Yesterday, ONE’s own Eloise Todd got a chance to ask Prime Minister Berlusconi a question- in Italian- during a press conference at the G8 Summit in Italy. It was a great moment. You can check out the video here (about 2/3 of the way through). Transcript below!
Question to Prime Minister Berlusconi:
I was present when Bob Geldof interviewed you last week. You said ‘I’m sorry for not having kept my promises’. What will you do this week to reverse the aid cut of €411m and what additional funds will you give on top of this to the G8 initiative on agriculture?
Prime Minister Berlusconi’s response (summary):
We were responsible for creating the Global Fund in Genoa in 2001, which has so far saved the lives of 4 million people. Because of the current economic crisis it is harder to balance our budget, and we know we are late in our payments to the global fund. But by the end of the year we will pay the 130m we owe as well as the 30m extra requested by the fund to cover shortfalls. We recommitted to our aid promises and tomorrow we will present an agriculture initiative and Italy will play its part.
The ONE verdict? Well, he clearly didn’t answer the question. But we remain hopeful there’s a rabbit in the hat from Italy which means they will pledge more than the 411m they cut. At least the question showed the Prime Minister, and the audience, that we are watching and we will not give up. And hopefully a few of the folks watching the live broadcast on Italian TV will also be curious to find out when he really gives an answer to those questions.
As we enter into Day 3 of the G8 Summit, we’ll have more from on the ground soon!
-Jessica Gomez-Duran
Obama speaks at the G8
President Obama has just spoken at a press conference at the G8 summit in Italy. He was followed by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. They were talking about climate change. An update from the ground of what was said is coming right up!
-Jessica Gomez-Duran
G8 Day 1 Recap
The G8 Summit in Italy has been going on for half a day and already the first of a reported 10 communiques has been released.
In predictable fashion, the release of the communique covering the world economy, climate change and development was of great interest to us, and we quickly issued this reaction to it yesterday.
While the scramble for the communique was going on, a group of over 100 journalists were shepherded into an auditorium to meet with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
On development, Berlusconi started by recalling that the Global Fund stands out as a success of the Summit in Genoa, having saved millions of lives since it was founded in 2001. He also said that the 2009 dues would be paid by the end of the year. Otherwise, he referred vaguely to a commitment to increase aid.
No mountains have been moved yet, but we’re working to keep the pressure on for a better outcome tomorrow.. More soon
-Eloise Todd
ONE Reacts to G8 Communiqué
The G8 Summit in L’Aquila just released the communiqué, which we’re now in the process of reading and analyzing. We’ll have further analysis soon, but in the meantime wanted to share with you this reaction from ONE’s Oliver Buston:
We welcome the fact that the G8 are focusing on accountability this year – announcing a new more in-depth way of reporting back on their development commitments. But what the world’s poorest people need now is not a re-cooking of old promises or yet more plans. They need immediate action, especially from G8 host Italy. Prime Minister Berlusconi now has two days to reverse his disastrous aid cuts and salvage his credibility. The G8 as a whole can show they are serious by announcing significant new money for African agriculture on Friday, and ensuring it is spent effectively.
As we mentioned earlier, ONE is calling on the Italian Government to immediately:
- Reverse its €411 million aid cut
- Provide an extra €350 million for agriculture
- Pay up their dues for 2009 to the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.
We’ll have more on this soon!
-Chris Scott
G8 Update!
We’ve heard that there might be a communique coming out in the next half an hour or so. This is expected to cover the world economy, climate and development Keep checking back as we’ll update you on what’s happening.
-Jessica Gomez-Duran
Bono on the G8
As Italy hosts the G8 Summit today through Friday, U2 just happened to perform in San Siro, Milan yesterday. During their concert, Bono expressed frustration with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s failure to keep his promises to Africa and urged him to take action in the next 3 days before the G8 Summit is over. You can read more about this Hot Topic here.
A transcript of Bono’s statement below:
It is well known that I have had some differences with your Prime Minister over promises that were made and not kept to the World’s poor.
I would like you to know that never ever would I disrespect the Italian people - Never.
Or the Prime Minister’s party or even the Prime Minister as a person, I do not disrespect.
But as Prime Minister right now - Yes.
Italian’s have given many gifts to the world, modern physics, the renaissance… the piano, the gift of singing from Pavarotti to Puccini to Jovanotti to Zucchero. You have so many gifts.
Well in the next few days… Your leader will decide where he stands on the gift of Life that lives beyond these shores.
If you think he should do what he promised for the poorest and most vulnerable in Africa - you need to let him know. Because he is not.
He is not increasing aid as he said he would - he is slashing it.
Do you think he should do what he promised? I thought so.
Well he still can - tomorrow, Thursday, Friday… he still can, and we’ll be waiting to see if he does.
I write songs… Berlusconi gets to write history…
For his chapter to end with dignity we want to dedicate this next song for him. It’s called One.
We are calling for the Italian government to immediately:
- Reverse the €411 million aid cut
- Provide an additional €350 million for agriculture
- Pay their Global Fund contributions for 2009
- Produce a clear plan and timetable to show how they will get back on track with their Gleneagles commitments
On the ground in Italy!
We’ve arrived! A team of us from ONE are now in L’Aquila, Italy for this year’s G8 Summit.
The journalists, NGOs and others have all started arriving, with the 3 day summit officially starting tomorrow.
Tomorrow morning ONE are holding a joint press briefing with Oxfam, which will cover Africa, development and food security issues in relation to the G8.
We’ll be writing a bit more over the coming days so keep checking back!
-Jessica Gomez-Duran
Kofi Annan: Africa is part of climate change solution
Bob Geldof guest-edited Sunday’s edition of the Italian publication La Stampa. In the coming days we’ll be posting English language versions of the featured articles, including this one from Kofi Annan:
The financial meltdown has translated into a development crisis for Africa. This is revealing its vulnerability not only to economic contraction but also to climate change. Changing weather patterns are already affecting the lives of millions of Africans by reducing food security, facilitating the spread of diseases like malaria, and prompting mass migration. The livelihoods and lives of millions of people are at risk.
Ironically, this crisis also presents a unique opportunity for Africa. The urgency of efforts to address climate change is revealing interesting prospects on the mitigation side, particularly in the areas of renewable energy and low carbon growth.
There is a real possibility to steer countries toward a new development model that will not only benefit Africa but the world. In the meantime, adaptation to climate change is critical. For Africa this means ‘weather proofing’ development by increasing food yields, investing in climate-resilient crops and infrastructure, promoting rainwater harvesting, and expanding medical control measures in anticipation increased vector-borne diseases.
Africa needs additional resources, over and above existing ODA commitments, to adapt to climate change. Financing adaptation to climate will be a formidable challenge, particularly as it involves additional costs above traditional development assistance – when ODA budgets are under pressure. Estimates of the amounts needed by developing countries to help them adapt to these challenges vary between 50 and 100 billion USD per year.
This is why Prime Minister Brown’s proposal last week on creating a fund for climate change is so welcome.
Failing to act now will not increase costs in the future – both financial and humanitarian. We all stand to lose from a reversal of the economic and social progress made across Africa in the past decade. Burgeoning markets might disappear and investment opportunities evaporate, while the risk of political instability will increase. Every percentage fall in growth has direct social consequences whether on nutrition levels, infant mortality or school attendance. Every person pushed back into poverty is another step away from achieving the Millennium Development Goals. For all of these reasons, the continued engagement and support of all of Africa’s partners including the G8 counties is vital.
As this year’s DATA Report from the Africa advocacy group ONE underscores, (more…)
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