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Fw: Infosdebitarsi del 12 luglio 2005: Commenti e notizie sul comunicato finale del G8 dalla rete europea EURODAD
- Subject: Fw: Infosdebitarsi del 12 luglio 2005: Commenti e notizie sul comunicato finale del G8 dalla rete europea EURODAD
- From: "raffaella chiodo karpinsky" <r.chiodo at inwind.it>
- Date: Wed, 13 Jul 2005 12:47:53 +0200
Infosdebitarsi del 12 luglio 2005: Commenti e notizie sul comunicato finale del G8 dalla rete europea EURODAD PRS WATCH NEWS: The G8 communiqué - More and Better Aid? Eurodad Briefing Editorial The much awaited G8 communiqué must be commended for responding to public demands and putting development firmly on the geo-political map. But, many of its policies are either too thin on detail (like just what conditions will be attached to potential new aid flows) or lack robust enforcement mechanisms (pledges on aid increases and enhancing aid effectiveness have no real enforcement mechanism to ensure they will happen) leaving one to question just how much will actually be put into practice. Sadly, if past political pledges of action on development are anything to go by, then genuine praise on the commitments contained in the communiqué will have to wait until we see evidence of real action on the ground. If, however, civil society thought the time to lobby was over, they were wrong. The communiqué's many 'policy blanks' provide a window of opportunity for civil society to fill them in with progressive detail. Below is a summary of the Eurodad briefing on the G8 communiqué. For a full version of the briefing go to: <http://www.eurodad.org/articles/default.aspx?id=638>http://www.eurodad.org/articles/default.aspx?id=638 Hetty NEWS: G8 communiqué: More and Better Aid? Eurodad Briefing Aid Volume - As predicted and greatly welcomed, the communiqué includes a pledge by G8 countries and other donors to increase aid by US$48 billion by 2010. However, the money is in no way guaranteed, with Germany and Italy, for example, citing budget problems as potentially getting in the way of them reaching the targeted increase. The United States Congress has also not passed President Bush's ODA increases and it is yet to be seen whether they will. It will also be a long time coming (spread over a five year period) and, could be raised through borrowing against future aid budgets, rather than new contributions. Finally, reading between the lines, it would appear that the business of counting debt relief as overseas development assistance will continue. Worryingly, for example, Russia's financial contribution to raising aid appears to be entirely accounted for in terms of debt write-offs (Annex II). Conditionality - There is no clear information on what conditions countries will have to meet in order to receive any potential new aid flows, though the issue of good governance is flagged up numerous times in the report indicating its importance. This is probably because most of the aid will be disbursed independently by differing countries and as such will be subject to different degrees and types of conditions. Worryingly, the US has cited the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) as a key vehicle for disbursing new aid. However, the MCA has notoriously tough conditions, making it likely that many countries will not benefit from future funds. Much has been made by civil society groups of paragraph 31, which progressively calls for developing countries to have the right to decide their own economic policies, something which civil society organizations have been campaigning for, for a long time. Yet with no elaboration on what this actually would mean in practice, it lacks enforceability and is open to wide interpretation. Civil society should push for more detailed policy measures here to ensure that space for developing countries to create their own economic policies exists, like calling for a cessation of economic policy conditionality and in turn ensuring bilateral donor aid to not tied to the IMF's Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) conditions. Aid Effectiveness - The communiqué makes a direct call for donors to be held to account for full implementation of the Paris Declaration on aid effectiveness, highlighting the need for greater untying of aid, more aid predictability and greater use of program based approaches. However, firstly, a lot of the new money is likely to be channelled through 'vertical' or 'global funds' and questions have been raised as to the compatibility of these funds to enhancing ownership and moving towards greater budget support. Secondly, like the Paris Declaration, the communiqué dismally fails to articulate what monitoring mechanisms should be put in place to ensure donors are held to account on aid effectiveness. Eurodad, along with other NGOs have been campaigning for strengthening international level monitoring mechanisms and NGOs should continue to campaign on this issue calling for an international forum where donors and creditors are equally represented. Sector Priorities - Finally, the communiqué goes into some depth around the need to enhance good governance, growth, trade capacity, infrastructure, health, education, water and private sector development in Africa referring to a number of existing or new initiatives that should be supported. The communiqué should be commended on governance for drawing upon African initiatives. However, what the communiqué fails to do is indicate which of these issues is a priority and in need of immediate attention. Conclusions - The G8 communiqué goes along way to addressing the need for more and better aid. But, CSOs need to press for more detailed and improved pledges and timetables in the run up to the Millennium Summit in September. And, perhaps even more importantly, over the next few years, CSOs need to continue to hold governments to account for their commitments, especially when the issue is far from the public eye and media headlines. In the end whether the G8 Summit in 2005 will make a big difference to reducing world poverty is yet to be seen. The test will be whether G8 countries live up to their commitments. Full Briefing: <http://www.eurodad.org/articles/default.aspx?id=638>http://www.eurodad.org/articles/default.aspx?id=638 --------------------- Hetty Kovach Poverty Reduction Strategies Policy and Advocacy Officer European Network on Debt and Development Tel: + 32 2 543 9062 Skype: eurodad-hetty <http://www.eurodad.org>www.eurodad.org Subscribe to our two regular e-bulletins, on debt and on PRSPs, at: <http://www.eurodad.org/aboutus/default.aspx?id=227>www.eurodad.org/aboutus/default.aspx?id=227 See EURODAD's briefing 'Devilish details: Implications of the G7 debt deal'. Available in English, Spanish and French at: <http://www.eurodad.org/articles/default.aspx?id=628>www.eurodad.org/articles/default.aspx?id=628 EURODAD is a non-profit organisation (ASBL/VZW) registered in Belgium and the Netherlands. For a list of EURODAD member organisations across Europe, or to find out how to join, see: <http://www.eurodad.org/members/default.aspx>www.eurodad.org/members/default.aspx --- You are currently subscribed to prswatch as r.chiodo at inwind.it To unsubscribe click on the link below: http://host.netatlantic.com:8080/cgi-bin/process.pl?id=35271991F
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