On 25 May, ONE International, an advocacy group against poverty supported by U2 singer Bono and rocker Bob Geldof, released a report analyzing the nature of the aid reaching sub-Saharan Africa between 2005 and 2010, as part of the so-called Gleneagles commitments, emanating from the G7’s seven industrialized nations, namely Britain, the United States, Germany, France, Canada, Italy and Japan.
Since the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) launched in 2000 were quite ambitious, it was clear from the start that Africa was going to need support from international donors. In 2002 in Kananaskis G7 members agreed to make the development of Africa a political priority. Consequently, at the 31st G8 Summitthat took place in Gleneagles, Scotland, in July 2005, the G8 leaders made a series of qualitative and quantitative collective commitments. These included:
• Increase aid to Africa by up to $25 billion by 2010, as part of a total increase of nearly $50 billion per year in aid to all Least Developed Countries (LDCs);
• Cancel the debts of 18 of the world’s poorest countries; and
• Cut trade subsidies and tariffs (according to the Doha round on global trade negotiations).
Click here for more information about the Gleneagles summit.
Having monitored the above mentioned countries’ commitments regarding development assistance; debt, trade and aid effectiveness; and health, education, agriculture, water and sanitation since 2005; ONE’s Data Report notes that a country’s performance depends on:
how the original commitment is set in terms of clarity and transparent budgetary planning; political will; and civil society advocacy in the country.
ONE’s monitoring process was based on three indices:
• The commitment
• The delivery
• Plans going forward
Mixed results 
While results in debt cancellation were satisfactory, and aid has increased in supporting education and health thus allowing progress in the continent (61% of the promised development assistance increases, that is to say $13.7 billion of $22.6 billion are expected to be delivered), G7 members have failed in terms of trade and in delivering quality aid (as set in the principles of the Paris Declaration). “Little, if any, progress has been made in delivering any policy changes that help ’make trade work for Africa’,” the report states. In terms of investment however, “FDI to sub-Saharan Africa has increased nearly ten-fold from 2000 to 2008,” ONE adds.
While the report notes that "Donors have supported African countries to make important strides in their own development agendas, such as scaling up access to life-saving antiretroviral drugs and sending 42 million more children to school," it also adds that “At this point, neither the G8 nor any other grouping of developed or emerging nations has put forward a specific, comprehensive collective plan focused on how to help support the vision of ’an Africa driven by its own citizens."
Disparities between countries
Despite increases in aid, performances are highly unequal among G7 countries. While Britain outstands as "the indisputable overall leader" followed by the United States, Canada and Japan; France and Germany are on course to deliver on only a quarter of the ambitious targets they have set. Lastly, Italy’s slow performance (cutting budget to 2004 levels) is hiding the progress of the best performers. "The real challenge with judging the G7’s promises to Africa is that the awful inaction of governments like Italy’s clouds the commendable performances of the UK or the United States," said Jamie Drummond, ONE Campaign executive director in a press release on 25 May. "This suggests the need for a renewed coalition of the willing," he added.
Progress in the MDGs
Regarding the MDGs, the report finds that progress has been made in the health and education-related MDGS, and released the following data:
MDG 1: End Poverty and Hunger
• All eight African countries that spent more than 10% of their budgets on agriculture during 2004–07 have achieved reductions in the proportion of hungry people over the past decade.
• The world has exceeded the Gleneagles goal of delivering 100 million bed-nets, with 200 million delivered between 2006 and 2009.
MDG 2: Universal Education
• 42 million more children have enrolled in school, and their completion rates are slowly improving.
• Nearly 75% of children are now enrolled in school across Africa, compared with only 58% in 1999, and Tanzania, Burkina Faso and Zambia have achieved enrolment above 90%. Benin, Madagascar and Zambia are on track to achieve universal primary education (UPE) by 2015.
MDG 4: Child Health
• Investments in immunisation, treatment and prevention of malaria and other interventions have cut annual child deaths in half since 1960, from 20 million to 8.8 million.
MDG 5: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
• Nearly 3 million people in need are now receiving drugs, compared with only 100,000 in 2003.
Looking back and ahead
By drawing on the lessons learnt these past five years, the report outlines recommendations for those areas where commitments have not been fulfilled. In particular it calls for stronger cooperation to support Africa in meeting the MDGs by 2015. It also identifies the need for:
• more accountability and the incorporation of new partners;
• targeting progress in governance;
• equitable and sustainable economic growth; and
• further increases in smart, effective development aid that is tailored to achieve results.
The report pinpoints the new realities facing Africa that should be taken into consideration while elaborating a forthcoming action plan, namely: new stakeholders, new challenges like climate change and the critical importance of African governments’ commitments to their own development efforts.
Other donors
The report also stresses the contribution of other donor countries (in 2009, 22 countries reported development assistance data to the OECD) that are expected to deliver $17.1 billion by 2010 of the $28.5 billion they have pledged. Despite Europe’s slow commitment increase of 38% estimated by ONE by 2010, four european countries Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden, in addition to Norway are champions in their commitments to sub-saharan Africa with 0.7% of their ODA/GNI ratios target met.
Hopes are placed on this year’s G8 and G20 meetings as well as on the MDG Summit in September in New York, to set a new agenda and make a change. "It is critical," the report says, "that 2010 does not close without a roadmap for the future."
The report is available here, including an executive summary.
Source: http://www.un-ngls.org/spip.php?page=amdg10&id_article=2669