Single Africa aid plan agreed

The leading Group of Eight nations (G8) have pledged universal access to HIV treatment by 2010. There has also been a commitment to set a date for the ending of export subsidies, which will give poor countries a fairer trading environment with the west. Anti-malarial drugs and treated mosquito nets will be available to 85 per cent of Africans vulnerable to malaria by 2015. Meanwhile, African nations have pledged to undergo a review of democratic processes once every two years.

All of these promises will be consolidated into an action plan that will be reviewed annually.

Speaking after a two-day meeting in London of the African Partnership Forum to follow-up on the G8 agreement in Gleaneagles earlier this year, the UK International Development Secretary, Hilary Benn, said:

"We have never had this before. The international system has never had a place where all the commitments in support of Africa have been brought together in one place. I think this shows very clearly that we are serious about the task of honouring the commitments we have made."

The action plan will be formulated by next April and the first annual review will be in October.

Comenting on the agreement an Oxfam spokesperson said: "Promises are one thing but now we need to see follow-through on commitments made by the G8 governments if African countries are to have any chance of achieving their millennium development goals."

Source:The Guardian October 6, 2005.
Click here to see the full story.

For more details of how you can help, click here.