Full Coverage: Aid

31.05.2005 Calling 2005 a landmark year for the continent as he marked Africa Day on May 25, Kofi Annan reflected optimistically on the continent's democratic reforms, poverty reduction, and control of the AIDS pandemic, noting especially the economic opportunities and challenges of war that lie ahead.

30.05.2005 The Bush administration's new interpretation of a pair of laws would withhold HIV/AIDS funds from U.S.-based as well as foreign organizations unless they sign a pledge to oppose prostitution. Over 200 groups and individuals have written to President Bush opposing the pledge requirement, saying it will cause groups to alienate the very populations they're trying to help.

27.05.2005 ActionAid has published a hard-hitting report which questions whether aid really benefits poor people as opposed to business and political interests of the donor country. A recent campaign by Friends of the Earth provides a good example of "unreal" aid - funding for oil, gas and mining projects which exacerbate climate change.

27.05.2005 United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today praised the European Union's agreement to substantially boost its official development assistance (ODA) over the next decade, with half of the increase going to Africa.

27.05.2005 UNITED NATIONS, May 26 (IPS) - Jan Egeland, U.N. under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, says he is livid that the international donor community has brushed aside his appeal for 16.2 million dollars in emergency food assistance to Niger -- as they have other urgent U.N. appeals for Africa.

27.05.2005 In an unprecedented display of international solidarity, 191 countries pledged to achieve eight Millennium Development Goals by 2015--but that step is just the tip of the human-rights iceberg, writes Yifat Susskind, MADREÂ’s Associate Director.

26.05.2005 WASHINGTON, D.C., May 26 (OneWorld) - Activists are seeking to use a European breakthrough this week to turn up the heat on some of the world's richest countries to come up with money they promised decades ago in the global fight against poverty.

26.05.2005 The European Union agreed Tuesday to set concrete timetables for fulfilling a promise the world's richer countries made in 1970 to allocate 70 cents of every $100 of national incomes to aid for poor countries. The move, which would double European aid by 2010, is expected to give a massive jolt to poor countries seeking to finally throw off the yoke of poverty.

26.05.2005 President Mahmoud Abbas' White House visit this week--the first between a Palestinian leader and President Bush--will likely be feted as an example of the Middle East's democratic potential. But it will also serve as an example of democracy's uncertainties, says journalist Howard LaFranchi, as Bush refuses to lessen support for Israel and Congress is unwilling to finance Palestinian aid.

25.05.2005 Uganda is in some financial difficulty as donor countries threaten to follow the lead taken by the UK in withholding aid funds in response to insufficient progress towards true democracy - something of a change from the unpopular conditions of privatisation and free trade.

25.05.2005 UNICEF announced Wednesday a partnership with Proctor and Gamble to provide home-based water purification systems for millions in poor countries around the world. The alliance will focus on bringing safe drinking water to schools, helping families in emergency situations, and reducing household exposure to arsenic-contaminated water.

24.05.2005 EU development ministers meeting today know that Tony Blair stands little chance of extracting aid promises from US and Canada unless European G8 members set a clear example. Unfortunately, key countries such as Germany and Italy are in no shape politically to make long term commitments.

24.05.2005 WASHINGTON, D.C., May 23 (OneWorld) - The World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) are preventing foreign aid from reaching HIV/AIDS programs in the world's poorest countries, according to an assessment appearing in a leading medical journal.

21.05.2005 Ireland contributes a higher percentage of its budget to international aid than the UK but has recently backtracked on a commitment to reach the UN target of 0.7%. Time for the Irish people to let Bertie Ahern know what they think.

20.05.2005 Today, on the National OrphansÂ’ Day in Albania, an initiative was presented by a group of Albanian businessmen to open 460 saving accounts for children without parents and parental care. The ceremony was held at the Congress Palace in Tirana.

20.05.2005 The success of the tsunami appeal has created difficulty in finding prompt and effective ways of spending the funds - less than half of the £350 million has been allocated. Who better to get things moving than the UN Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery, Bill Clinton.

19.05.2005 A Bush administration policy, much derided by the NGO community for stigmatizing and alienating an already difficult population to reach, requires groups receiving funding from the U.S. to sign a pledge renouncing prostitution. The U.S. global AIDS coordinator Tuesday rescinded a document that would have required the same from some 3,000 groups in 128 countries that receive funding through the independent Global Fund.

19.05.2005 A 32-year-old Italian aid worker who has lived and worked in Afghanistan for more than three years was abducted by armed gunman in Kabul Monday evening. This comes just two weeks after the bodies of three women were found in the north of the country with a note saying "this is retribution for those women who are working in NGOs and those who are involved in whoredom."

19.05.2005 Africa is the only region in the world no better off than it was 25 years ago, and U.S. policy towards the continent is not blameless in this crime. Foreign Policy expert Emira Woods lays out a five-point plan for the United States to ensure it is helping--not hindering--the continent to begin moving in the right direction.

18.05.2005

© Center for Global Development

CGD President Nancy Birdsall testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the Commission for Africa report initiated by Tony Blair. She suggested the U.S. should prepare a package of Africa-related initiatives for the UK-hosted G-8 Summit in July covering areas such as peace and security, advance market commitments for vaccines; debt relief, trade, and aid delivery.