G8 leaders promise 50 billion US dollars aid to poor countries

The leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations on Friday agreed to increase aid to developing countries by around 50 billion US dollars per year by 2010, of which about 25 billion dollars a year to help lift Africa out of poverty.

"We agreed that we and our African partners had a common interest in building on that progress to create a strong, peaceful and prosperous Africa," said the leaders in a joint statement issued after a two-day summit here.

The statement came after leaders of the G8, a group of most industrialized countries compromising Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States, held a dialogue with seven African leaders from Algeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania.

The G8 leaders endorsed a plan to cancel all of the debts owed to international institutions by 18 heavily indebted poor countries, most of them in Africa.

The leaders set out a comprehensive plan to support Africa's progress and agreed to provide extra resources for Africa's peacekeeping forces and boost investment in the sectors of health and education.

"We know this is only the beginning. We must take this spirit forward to the UN Millennium Review Summit in New York and ensure a successful conclusion to the Doha Development Agenda," said the leaders.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who hosts the annual meeting of the G8 leaders, has been pushing his counterparts to endorse a proposal to double aid to Africa.

The G8 leaders agreed to strengthen the African Partners Forum and establish a Joint Action Plan to ensure the implementation of the measures.

However, some non-government organizations criticized the summit for its failure to delivery justice for Africa, claiming the deal announced will not tackle poverty effectively.

"The deal that has been announced falls way short of our demands. We have some aid, but not enough, some debt relief but not enough and virtually nothing on trade," said Caroline Sande Mukulira from ActionAid's Southern African program.

"Once again Africa's people have been short-changed," she added.

Source: Xinhua