L'AQUILA, July 8 (RIA Novosti) – The Group of Eight rich nations pledged to honor earlier commitments to provide aid to Africa despite the ongoing economic crisis, in a joint statement released after the first day of their summit.
The leaders of the G8 - the United States, Canada, Japan, Russia, Britain, France, Germany and Italy – are meeting in the central Italian town of L'Aquila, in the province of Abruzzo, which was devastated by an earthquake in April.
The joint declaration said: “We renew all our commitments towards the poor, especially in Africa. We are determined to undertake measures to mitigate the impact of the crisis on developing countries, and to continue to support their efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.”
The G8 countries had agreed at a summit four years ago in the Scottish town of Gleneagles to provide $50 billion in aid to poor countries by 2010, but aid organizations say the rich nations are still a long way from meeting the pledge.
“Despite the severe impact of the crisis on our economies, we reiterate the importance of fulfilling our commitments to increase aid made at Gleneagles, and reaffirmed at Heiligendamm and Toyako. For Africa, this will include increasing, together with other donors ODA [official development assistance] by US$ 25 billion a year by 2010, compared to 2004,” the declaration said.
The declaration also expressed “heartfelt solidarity to the people of Abruzzo affected by the tragic earthquake which struck the region on 6th April 2009, and to all those around the world who have been touched by natural disasters.”
Italy's decision to move the summit to L'Aquila, to boost local reconstruction, has come under widespread criticism, as the aftershocks continue. The summit host, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, has also come under pressure in the Western media over the last-minute organization of the summit, delays to rebuilding work in the quake-hit province, and failure to fulfill previous summit pledges for foreign aid.
G8 nations pledge to honor aid commitments to Africa
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The Group of Eight rich nations pledged to honor earlier commitments to provide aid to Africa despite the ongoing economic crisis, in a joint statement released after the first day of their summit
