Mission unaccomplished: one year on from Gleneagles, is the G8 hitting its targets on debt, trade and aid?
Mission unaccomplished: one year on from Gleneagles, is the G8 hitting its targets on debt, trade and aid?
In 2005, millions of people in the UK and around the world supported the Make Poverty History campaign for action on debt cancellation, trade justice and more and better aid. In response to this public pressure, leaders at the G8 summit at Gleneagles in Scotland in July 2005 responded with a series of pledges - on debt, trade and aid, and on HIV and AIDS, which promised to help address the needs of more than one billion people living in extreme poverty.
This report examines progress against these pledges. It asks whether the G8 is hitting its targets on debt, trade and aid, and illustrates both successes and shortcomings of aid through case studies.
Its assessment concludes that, aside from the commitment to cancel debt, most elements of the four key pledges have not been fulfilled
- debt cancellation: the G8 countries did deliver on their pledge to write off most of the multilateral debts in 18 of the world’s poorest countries. The report argues that the debts should also be cut for over 40 other countries that do not yet meet the "heavily indebted poor countries" criteria
- pro-poor fairer trading practices: G8 countries continue to push for trade deals against the interests of the poorest countries and have not cut subsidies that disadvantage poor countries
- more and better aid: G8 countries are not on track to fulfill the promise to double aid to Africa as part of an extra $50 billion package by 2010, and donors are failing to reform on key aspects of better aid
- universal access to treatment for AIDS by 2010: Donors are failing to back the pledge with sufficient money, leaving an annual funding gap of at least $10 billion a year
The report warns that failure to meet these commitments will jeopardise the international development goals of halving poverty, achieving universal education and cutting child deaths by 2015. It calls on the public to renew its pressure on the G8 leaders to fulfill their commitments. [Adapted from author]