Never has the outcome of a G8 summit been awaited with such collective anticipation. The millions of us around the globe who have been wearing white bands, sending post- cards to the PM, tuning into Live8 and marching around Edinburgh were demanding that the G8 take big steps on trade, aid and debt to MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY. Those who have been campaigning tirelessly on environmental issues were also hoping that Tony Blair's promise to also focus on climate change would bring about a new global consensus on reducing emissions and on helping poor communities to adapt to extreme weather conditions.

So what was the outcome? A one line verdict might sound good, but would do little justice to a complex event. A factual five-liner
might go something like this:

--The G8 delivered more progress than previous summits.
--Their commitments fell well short of MPH demands.
--Yet these commitments would not have been achieved without campaigning.
--The UK Government made considerable efforts.
--The eventual outcome may depend on our next steps.


Progress differed across the issues. On aid, the G8 agreed to boost aid by nearly US$50 billion a year from 2010, five years later than MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY is asking for.

According to the United Nations, this increase in aid will not be enough to meet the Millennium Development Goals to halve poverty by 2015. It is disappointing that the rich world is failing to find the money to meet the promises it has made, and that targets to give 0.7% of national income to developing countries (promised 35 years ago) have either been set for too far in the future or not set at all. However, it is also true that many lives will be saved by this increase in aid and that Africa is set to benefit from US$25 billion of this increase, the figure recommended by the Commission for Africa. The G8 also restated previous commitments to improve the quality of aid, which must now be implemented, and committed to allowing countries more freedom over their own economic policies.

The commitments made at the G8 would not have been achieved without campaigning.

On international debt relief, the decision by the G8 confirmed a recent announcement by G7 finance ministers for debt cancellation to be deepened for 18 countries. Campaigners have long been calling for the multilateral debts of poor countries (owed to institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF) to be wiped out, providing finance vital for development. However, major issues still remain. The issue of economic policy conditions attached to debt relief is yet to be addressed. And there are also many countries not yet on the list to receive debt relief that desperately need it.

On trade, the lack of a hoped-for announcement of a date for an end to damaging agricultural export subsidies from the West was disappointing. While there was some reference in the communiqué about building the capacity of poor countries to trade and allowing them more say over their economic policies, further concrete progress in this area is vital in the coming months.

One of the more encouraging outcomes of the Summit related to HIV/AIDS. World leaders set as a goal universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS by the year 2010 and highlighted the plight of orphans and vulnerable children. One of the challenges now is to produce the money required to ensure that everyone living with HIV/AIDS is able to receive the treatment they need, as this commitment, like the Millennium Development Goals, could become an empty promise if the money is not available to make it a reality.

Only time will reveal the real outcomes of the G8. Indeed, the ultimate outcome of the Gleneagles Summit may depend as much on what we do next as what they said.

If the things that have been promised are not delivered, the summit will truly have failed. On the other hand, the progress made, while far less than MPH wanted, may accelerate a change in public awareness and political climate, paving the way for future successes.

So where does MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY go next? We must celebrate what has been achieved; be clear about what remains to be achieved; then seize every opportunity to achieve it. The opportunities are already upon us. The UK's presidency of the EU, which began last month, is a major opening to shape EU trade policies and its negotiating position in the World Trade Organisation. It is also a chance to pressure for better aid. The UN Millennium Review Summit in September will assess progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. Also, in September, IMF and World Bank annual meetings will be a moment to focus on the unfair conditionalities, particularly forced trade liberalisation, that the Fund and Bank apply to aid and debt relief. In November, the Trade Justice Movement (TJM) will hold a mass mobilisation targeting decision-makers. And trade is centre-stage again in December when the WTO Ministerial Summit takes place in Hong Kong.

MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY, with the Global Call to Action on Poverty, can use all of these to build on the gains of the G8 and respond to its failures. Onwards!






Andy Atkins is the Advocacy Director, and Laura Webster is the Policy Officer at TEARFUND, an international relief and development agency with offices in the UK and Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Bond International.




For other interesting articles on this topic, check out these web sites Full G8 Communique,. UK Presidency of the EU,. UN Millenium Review Summit,. IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings,. Millenium Development Goals..

To read another Global Envision article about the G8 and Live8, see Marching in Europe Will Not End African Poverty.

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