SCIAF Response to G8 Aid Announcement

Details of the G8 agreement released in Heiligendamm this morning reveal the extent of G8 inaction on the promises made in Scotland two years ago.

The G8 Communique on aid and development is long on words but short on details when urgent results are needed.

The communique does little more than repeat earlier promises, such as the 2005 commitment to increase aid to Africa by $25 billion by 2010, whilst providing no timetable for action, and no details about where, how and when this increase will take place.

SCIAF is representing its Scottish campaigners at the G8 in Germany. Its Policy Analyst Abi Dymond said:

"The 8,000 people who die each day from HIV/AIDS do not need vague promises. They need real resources, real increases, and they need them now. These rehashed promises are wearing thin at a time when OECD statistics show aid from the G7 countries (excluding Russia) have fallen by 8.7%, and not increased.”

“Today’s result is a grave disappointment not only to the thousands of Scots who supported Make Poverty History and SCIAF’s Make Aid Work campaign but also to poor people across the world. G8 leaders must remember that their commitments are not only counted in dollars but in people’s lives.”

The commitment to provide $60 billion to help those living with HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis is a small step in the right direction but much more needs to be done. Its true value remains to be seen as, again, the text is sparse on detail. The G8 have not committed to a deadline for this money, saying only that it will be provided ‘over the coming years.’ They have also not said whether this is new money, or old money repackaged.

8th June 2007