Tearfund: Re-Intensify Pressure on G8 World Leaders to Make Poverty History

Tearfund challenged the Make Poverty History campaigners to re-intensify pressure on the world leaders though the progress achieved at the G8 summit held 6th-8th July 2005 in Gleneagles.

During the summit G8 leaders agreed to raise aid for Africa to £28.8bn. However, activist must ask for faster and deeper progress in the push to make poverty history, Tearfund, the Christian relief agency says.

"There has been progress this week in addressing the awful and pervasive poverty in our world thanks to ordinary people demanding that politicians take action, but there is still a significant gap between what we are asking for and what the G8 have delivered this week," commented Andy Atkins, Advocacy Director of Tearfund.

"The G8 themselves acknowledge that the results from Gleneagles were not all that everyone wanted, but that the steps taken will save many lives. We must push the politicians in what remains of 2005 and beyond to take bigger steps forward."

Even though the agreement of leaders to provide aid ensures £28.8bn a year from 2010, still it is five years short of what Make Poverty History was campaigning for.

"Overall it is too little aid being delivered too slowly," says Laura Webster, Tearfund’s aid policy advisor.

"Even the United Nations says that this increase in aid will not be enough to meet the Millennium Development Goals of halving poverty by 2015."

The recent decision of G7 finance ministers on international debt relief was confirmed by G8 for 18 countries: "Many lives will be saved due to the debt relief decisions, but major issues still remain. The issue of economic policy conditions attached to debt relief must be addressed. And there are also many countries not on the list to receive debt relief," said Atkins. "We have not seen any good news for those countries this week."

Tearfund considers the goals set up in issue of HIV/AIDS as most encouraging. The world leaders agreed to ensure universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS by the year 2010, with an action plan to achieve it.

"This is a success and we are encouraged by such an important commitment which also highlighted the plight of orphans and vulnerable children," Richard Weaver, Tearfund’s HIV/AIDS policy officer said.

"HIV/AIDS is undermining development across the globe. The G8 have this week begun to restore hope to the 40 million people currently living with HIV/AIDS."

"One of the challenges now facing the G8 countries is to produce the money required to ensure that everyone living with HIV/AIDS is able to receive the treatment they need."

On the other hand, the lack of progress in the issue of water sanitation was a disappointment for Tearfund and others that hoped for aid in the area of water and sanitation. Inadequate water recourses in Africa negatively impact the lives of more than two billion people.

"We appreciate the lead the UK government has shown with its own policies on water and sanitation, but it is very disappointing that most of the G8 leaders have failed to follow their lead at this Summit," Commented Joanne Green, senior policy advisor at Tearfund.

Andy Atkins expressed the progress of G8 dealing with poverty: "Thanks to the campaigning of churches, the public and other groups, Make Poverty History is having a powerful impact."

"We would ask everyone who has given the campaign such momentum to continue so that governments are pushed take further steps during the UK’s Presidency of the European Union and at other major summits this year."