EU aid commitments on G8 agenda

This week’s G8 summit should set up a €2.3bn fund to promote good governance in Africa, European commission President José Manuel Barroso has declared.

Barroso said acting upon aid commitments to Africa would be debated at the St Petersburg gathering.

“Money alone is not enough, sound governance goes to the heart of sustainable African development,” Barroso told reporters on Tuesday.

Energy questions are set to dominate debate at the three day gathering – but Brussels is keen to keep Africa on the agenda.

“Our second priority is to keep Africa centre stage,” Barroso explained.

In a letter to Russian premier President Putin, Barroso called on Moscow to keep up the momentum created by G8 leaders in Gleneagles last year.

“2005 was the year of commitments.  The EU is working to make 2006 the year of delivery,” the commission president told Putin.

“The eradication of poverty remains a huge global challenge. It will remain a central task for the EU and for the European commission in the years to come.   I am very grateful to the Russian G8 presidency for continuing to take forward this agenda.”

In Gleneagles, G8 leaders pledged to reach the UN millennium development goals (MDGs) by 2015.

The eight MDGs range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education.

Singing the praises of Europe’s aid programmes, Barroso said Brussels was on track to surpass its commitments for this year.

“On aid financing, Europe is on track to fulfil its commitment to double aid by 2010.  It has not only met its commitment to raise aid to 0.39 per cent of GNI by 2006 but will probably pass this mark, with aid worth 0.42 per cent of GNI this year.”

But Oxfam has recently warned voters that European member states are in the habit of inflating their aid figures.

NGOs say €12.5bn of headline EU aid in 2005 did not result in additional money for poverty reduction.

Oxfam has called on EU governments to live up to their MDG commitments by ensuring that debt cancellation does not come at the expense of new aid for developing countries.

“The credibility of the EU as a world leader in giving aid to poor countries is at stake. NGOs are watching closely in all countries to hold their governments to their pledges,” the NGO CONCORD said in a statement.

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