'Damp squib' summit blasted for failure on poverty
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Verdict on 2006 G8 summit
ActionAid condemns G8 for taking a year off from fighting global poverty G8 summit outcome "The G8 can take a year off, but poverty doesn't'', said Moussa Faye, Director of ActionAid Senegal, as the St. Petersburg summit closed without making the progress that's urgently needed on Africa, health or education. "After G8 leaders promised to make poverty history last year, this summit has been a damp squib", said Patrick Watt, policy coordinator with ActionAid UK. "It now falls to Germany to get the G8 back on track to double aid for Africa and provide AIDS treatment. It's good news that Chancellor Merkel is putting Africa on the agenda, but without immediate action, there will be little progress worth discussing." Trade "Millions of poor people risk becoming even poorer under the trade deal currently on the table from the G8. Rich countries are still demanding that poor countries open their markets in return for small concessions that should have been delivered years ago. The aid for trade package is less ambitious than what was offered last December at the WTO in Hong Kong," said Moussa Faye. Notes: * ActionAid International works in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas to fight global poverty and tackle the injustice and inequity that cause it. www.actionaid.org · For information and interviews with ActionAid spokespeople in St Petersburg please call Alexandre Polack on +32 473 86 18 92 - interviews available in English, French, Spanish and Russian * For general media information and interviews call John Coventry (UK) on +44 (0) 7984 108 027 +44 or (0) 207 561 7633 or Sarah Gillam (International) on +44 (0) 773 888 4104 ActionAid International works with poor and excluded people to eradicate poverty. For more information, please visit our website www.actionaid.org |
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