A rchive Date
[ 28-06-2002 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Canada ]
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[G8 snubs PM's vision for Africa
By HEATHER SCOFFIELD
From Friday's Globe and Mail
Friday, June 28
Calgary - Prime Minister Jean Chrétien has failed to win the ironclad G8 commitment he was looking for that would have assured Africa of at least $6-billion (U.S.) a year in new aid.
Still, the two-day summit closed with leaders agreeing in principle to fight poverty and boost investment in Africa. They also agreed to increase debt-relief efforts by $1-billion. And they agreed to try to eliminate polio in Africa by 2005.
As for terrorism, the leaders succeeded in nailing down a deal that would raise $20-billion, partly in loans, for Russia over the next 10 years to decommission nuclear weapons and install tight controls around nuclear, biological, and chemical materials that could be used in bombs by terrorists. However, leaders conceded the weapons agreement was a last-minute compromise that still needs a lot of work to be effective.
"I offered G8 leaders a summit done differently ... to deliver results. And we have succeeded," said Mr. Chrétien, closing the meeting at a secluded but heavily guarded Rocky Mountain resort. Leaders were limited to delegations of 25 people each, unlike the hundreds that have joined summits in the past.
"Kananaskis will be remembered as an extremely important summit where we have acted collectively to make sure that globalization benefits all the citizens of the globe and that no continent should be left behind."
Mr. Chrétien had staked his international and domestic reputation on delivering a meaningful aid and investment plan for Africa, which he said was the centrepiece of the summit. He was quick to claim victory Thursday.
However, a closer reading of the Africa Action Plan shows that G8 leaders could not agree to steadfastly dedicate to Africa at least half of the $12-billion in increased aid money to the developing world announced this year. And any money that flows to that continent will have a many strings attached.
"We believe that in aggregate, half or more of our new development assistance could be directed to African nations that govern justly, invest in their own people and promote economic freedom," the action plan says.
The word "could" is key, since it gives G8 donor countries a way out. Mr. Chrétien had said he was close to getting all the G8 countries to agree firmly to put at least half - or $6-billion - toward Africa, but that there were problems getting the United States to agree to that number.
His plans had begun to crumble late last year when Canada realized that other G8 members, especially the United States, would not be willing to plow billions in aid money into a central pool for aid to Africa. Now, each of the leaders has merely agreed to boost aid as they see fit.
African leaders received the G8 Africa plan half-heartedly.
"We are satisfied with this commitment. Of course, there's nothing that is human that can be regarded as perfect," said Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo. "It is the beginning. We still have a lot of work to do."
The G8's statement on Africa was sharply criticized in the development community for its lack of hard commitments to supply funds or steps to improve trade terms that hurt Africa nations.
"It's a great action plan," said Mark Fried, spokesman for Oxfam International. "All it's lacking is action."
Stephen Lewis, the United Nations special adviser on AIDS, condemned the lack of new funds.
"It's nowhere near the $64-billion [asked for by African leaders] or the $25-billion to $35-billion needed to meet the millennium goals [including universal basic education by 2015]," he said. "It's a really depressing shortfall, especially in terms of what might have come out of this. Really - was it not possible for them to move it forward?"
On the deal to stop terrorists from getting their hands on ingredients for bombs, Canada has committed $1-billion over 10 years to the plan, U.S. officials said. Canadian officials have emphasized that much of that money will come through offering technical assistance to Russia to destroy nuclear material.
But the weapons deal had quite a few loose ends, leaders admitted. They were able to agree only on "guidelines" which they hope will eventually turn into firm agreements on how the decommissioning fund will work. The project will be back on the table again next year.
"At this point, we wanted to make the most progress possible," Mr. Chrétien said. "We can't have perfect agreement on everything."
Russian President Vladimir Putin played down the problem of loosely guarded nuclear material in his country. He said old weapons are stockpiled and not in use any longer.
"There is no threat of proliferation. All of these weapons are under stiff control," he told reporters, contradicting statements from other leaders.
With reports from Stephanie Nolen in Toronto and Jill Mahoney in Calgary
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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