Italy and France criticised over G8 target shortfall

SOME G8 nations made encouraging progress last year towards fulfilling the commitments they made at the 2005 Gleneagles Summit to fight extreme poverty in Africa.

But two G8 members – Italy and France – are performing so poorly they are threatening to cause the G8 as a whole to default, according to the 2009 DATA Report to be released today by global advocacy organisation, ONE.

Based on analysis of Official Development Assistance (ODA) figures for 2008, the G8 have only delivered one third of the additional assistance they promised to Africa by 2010, despite being two-thirds of the way to the deadline.

ONE’s projections show that by the end of 2009 they will have delivered about half of their 2010 promise, with Italy and France responsible for 80% of the shortfall. This leaves just one year, 2010, for the G8 to make up the rest.

Investments delivered so far have produced strong returns in Africa, the report says, including 34 million more children in school, an estimated three million people on life-saving AIDS treatment and death rates from malaria more than halved in Rwanda, Ethiopia and Zambia.

These findings and others will be highlighted at a London press conference today by a panel including Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Bob Geldof, anti-poverty activist and ONE adviser; and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, ONE’s international patron.