Message To G8: Keep Your Promises In Deauville

InterAction member ONE has just released its annual DATA report, a scorecard on whether Group of Eight (G8) nations and the European Union are meeting commitments they made to sub-Saharan Africa back in 2005. The release of ONE’s report is timely, as it comes the week before G8 leaders meet in Deauville, a picturesque seaside town in northern France.

The overriding message from ONE’s report—which has some nifty interactive graphics—is that the world’s richest nations (read: G8) need greater follow-through on the public pledges they make. So far, they have delivered on about 61 percent of promised increases in development assistance to sub-Saharan Africa, the report says. To meet the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, there must be renewed focus on accountability, effectiveness and innovation.

Most of the progress was a result of what ONE said was the UK’s “commendable progress.” The United States, Japan and Canada also surpassed their “relatively modest targets.” Italy’s performance was, however, dismal. France, host of the G8/G20 summits this year, and Germany also failed to meet their targets.

InterAction will be in Deauville next week and we’ll be keeping our own scorecard as world leaders—including President Barack Obama—discuss the issues of the day. Follow us on Twitter and onFacebook and check this space for blogs. We also have a special page dedicated to G8/G20 issues.

On the agenda in Deauville will be the economic crisis; climate change (an area where the Obama administration and Congress could certainly improve); Internet safety; the shifting political landscape in the Middle East; and Japan’s recovery following the earthquake and tsunami.

We’ll be fighting to get core development issues on the front-burner with a clear message that even during these tough budget times and era of limited resources, world leaders must keep their promises to the world’s most vulnerable populations.

For one, they need to honor the 2009 L’Aquila pledge to spend $22 billion over three years to improve food security and create sustainable solutions to ease the suffering of an estimated 1 billion hungry worldwide. The spike in food prices makes this all the more urgent.

They should also honor the Muskoka Initiative on maternal and child health in which G8 leaders committed $5 billion and indicated the initiative would mobilize "significantly greater than $10 billion" over five years.

The Financial Times wrote a story this week based on what it said was a leaked report in which the world’s leading economies sought to cover up their shortcomings in meeting past promises to meet aid targets.  

The G8’s Accountability Report on health and food is expected to be released  later this week and we hope that doesn’t hide anything. There needs to be a clear action plan and transparent timelines. Look out for InterAction’s response to that when it is released.

What do you think should be on the G8 Deauville agenda and what promises are you hoping will be kept?