TWO G8 members, Italy and France, are “performing so badly” in their commitments to fight extreme poverty in Africa that they may cause the whole G8 group to default as one, a report to be published by the ONE foundation – to which Bob Geldof is an adviser – this morning warns.
The 2009 Data Report will be published in London by a panel including Bill Gates, Bob Geldof and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
The report says some G8 nations made encouraging progress last year towards fulfilling commitments made at Gleneagles in 2005, though as a whole the G8 had delivered just one-third of the additional assistance promised to Africa by 2010. This was despite the bloc’s being two-thirds of the way to the deadline.
The report is based on the analysis of official development assistance figures for 2008.
It says investments delivered so far have produced strong returns in Africa, including 34 million more children in school, an estimated three million people on Aids treatment and a halving of death rates from malaria in Rwanda, Ethiopia and Zambia.
However, it also says: “ONE’s projections now show that by the end of 2009 they [G8 nations] will have delivered about half of their 2010 promise, with Italy and France responsible for 80 per cent of the shortfall. This leaves just one year, 2010, for the G8 to make up the rest.”
The United States and Canada are “meeting or beating commitments” while the “UK and Germany [are] pushing hard to meet more ambitious goals”.
France is cutting aid while Italy is the “worst performer in G8”. Mr Geldof, commenting on the findings, described Italy as “poor, sad”.
“That their economy is in such a disastrous meltdown condition that they must steal from the poor, rob the ill and snatch education from the young not only beggars the imagination but must also beggar the soul of that most beautiful country. Shame on you. Your government disgraces you.”
International patron to ONE, Archbishop Tutu, said a promise to the poor was particularly sacred. “It saddens and angers me that great nations like Italy and France are going in the wrong direction. We must all campaign to encourage the forthcoming G8 meetings to do better.”
