G8 accused of backtracking on aid deal

The leaders of the world's richest countries were accused of falling short of their own ambitious plans to help Africa despite announcing an eye-catching $60 billion to fight AIDS and other diseases in the developing world. G8 leaders met with African presidents and prime ministers on the final day of their summit in Germany and formally re-committed to the goals of the Gleneagles summit in 2005, which, under British Prime Minister Tony Blair's leadership, promised to double aid to Africa by 2010. But aid agencies and campaigners were quick to point out that a pledge in the final G8 communiqué on June 8 to spend $60 billion on AIDS, TB, malaria and improving health systems "over the coming years" showed that the elite club of nations was, at best, treading water on previous commitments. Among them was Bono, the Irish rock star and social activist who, on a visit to the summit, accused the G8 leaders of hiding behind "bureaubabble." "G8 leaders say they are serious about keeping their promises from 2005, but today they have made their job seriously harder," Bono told a news conference. "They say $60 billion for AIDS, TB and malaria and it sounds great, but that's not earmarked for Africa -- it's a global figure and there is no timeline." He added: "It's called a communiqué, but it seems to have been deliberately designed not to communicate the real facts. Do they think we can't read or count? We are looking for accountable language and accountable numbers. We didn't get them today." Health aid to developing nations is already running at $14 billion a year, which means that today's headline-grabbing sum will be reached in under five years without any extra resources. G8 countries are this year also running $8 billion short of another Gleneagles goal, to give $50 billion extra in aid for the world's developing countries by 2010. Patrick Watt, an analyst for ActionAid, said: "Effectively the G8 can meet today's commitment by treading water. There has been a massaging down of expectations since Gleneagles." Steve Cockburn of the Stop Aids Campaign, said: "This effectively falls far short of what Gleneagles promised. They have put a cap on their ambition and that will cost lives."