Tutu urges action as Blair to visit G8 leaders
The veteran campaigner welcomed the debt cancellation deal brokered by British Chancellor Gordon Brown. But the South African churchman called on G8 leaders to go further when they gather in Scotland next month.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has jetted off on a frantic round of shuttle diplomacy to press for further action on African development and climate change at the Gleneagles summit.
Mr Blair’s mission to Moscow, Berlin, Paris and Luxembourg follows Saturday’s meeting of G8 finance ministers in London.
That saw an agreement forged by Mr Brown to write off billions owed by some of the world’s poorest countries.
Up to $55 billion (€5bn) due from 38 countries, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, will be cancelled.
That will mean an annual $1bn-$2bn (€824 million - €1.6bn) more for health, education and other development for decades to come.
However the Africa Commission, set up by Mr Blair, says the continent needs an extra €20bn every year.
Mr Blair’s official spokesman, speaking before Mr Blair boarded his chartered British Airways plane at Heathrow, said: “What we are doing is what we set out two weeks ago we would do, which is going around the members of the G8 preparing the agenda for the G8 in Gleneagles.”
The spokesman said the hectic 48-hour visit would begin today with talks with Russia’s president Vladimir Putin.
The spokesman pointed out Russia had signed up to the Kyoto treaty and added that Britain believed it was also supportive of its agenda for Africa.
Meanwhile, Mr Brown said: “It is now about a timetable for delivery.
“What happened yesterday was not simply 100% debt relief, which was a major advance, but a commitment on all parties, particularly Europe, to 42 billion (US dollars) extra of aid with the prospect of 25 billions extra aid for Africa as a result of our decisions.
“We had a commitment also that all Aids sufferers would receive help by 2010 and that we wanted to open up agriculture so that we eliminated export subsidies that do so much damage to the poorest countries.
“And the issue for the poorest countries is they must show the money is going to the poor.
“The issue for the big international institutions - the IMF and the World Bank - is that they must show that anti-poverty work is their priority.
“The issue for the richest countries - and Tony Blair will be in Russia, then in Germany, then in France and Luxembourg to talk about these issues - is that we must now show with a timetable for delivery that our words will be matched by action.”
Archbishop Tutu called the London debt deal “a splendid start”.
Looking forward to the G8 summit, he said: “I hope that the heads of these different countries will be sensitive and say we are on the same side, we want to eradicate poverty, we want to ensure that trade conditions are equitable and we want to increase aid.”
The archbishop acknowledged the continent had seen many corrupt leaders who had squandered aid.
However, he told the BBC: “Remember the West had a hand in promoting some of those leaders because it suited them at the time.”
New review systems would ensure the money saved from debt cancellation will go to those who most need it, he continued.
“I think that most of Africa is aware that we are on the line as it were,” he said.
This year is an important stage in efforts to achieve a set of targets known as the Millennium Development Goals for reducing poverty and related problems.
These efforts will be a key theme for the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, next month, and at the UN summit in September in New York.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has chosen climate change and Africa as the big themes while Britain chairs the G8 and holds the EU presidency. He and his Chancellor, Gordon Brown, want the G8 to agree on action in three key areas. They have been calling for 100% debt relief for the poorest countries, an increase in development aid and changes to world trade rules to make it easier for African economies to grow.
Most of the very poor countries in sub-Saharan Africa owe money to the governments of rich countries and to international organisations - the main ones being the World Bank, the IMF and the African Development Bank.
About 80% of the debt is to rich country governments, but African countries also owe money to private sector lenders - some of which have taken court action in an effort to secure full repayment.
If poor countries don’t have to spend so much on debt payments, they could use the money to provide basic healthcare and education and to improve roads in rural areas which is where poverty is often at its worst.
The Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) was launched in 1996. A total of 38 countries, mostly in Africa, are in principle eligible.
To qualify, countries have to be very poor and have a very heavy debt burden.
They also have to maintain economic stability and produce a strategy for reducing poverty.
A total of 18 have reached what is called the ‘completion point’ - the end of the HIPC process. These are the countries that will immediately benefit from the plan announced in London on Saturday.
Another nine have got to the ‘decision point’ at which debt relief starts to kick in.
There are another 11 HIPC countries yet to reach their decision points.
There have been disagreements about how to fund the debt relief.
Extra money will be needed from the G8 nations so that the World Bank and African Development Bank will not have to take all the cost themselves - that could mean less new aid money being available.
There has been a disagreement about whether to sell gold from the IMF’s reserves to pay for debt relief, a policy which the US opposes.
This idea appears to have been ruled out, however.
At the meeting of G8 finance ministers in London, Gordon Brown said the write-off of debts owed to the IMF would be funded from the IMF’s existing resources.
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