THE G8 industrialized countries
reaffirmed, during their
2005 Summit at Gleneagles in
Scotland, their commitment
towards ensuring that the UN
Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) will be
achieved by 2015 as agreed.
The MDGs include targets on
reducing poverty, combating
hunger and disease, among
others.
Progress towards meeting
these goals is expected to feature
in discussions at the
SADC International Conference
on Poverty and Development
in April 2008.
The commitments made by
the G8 at Gleneagles include:
- Doubling of aid by 2010 -
an extra US$50 billion
worldwide and US$25 billion
for Africa;
- Writing off immediately
the debts of 18 of the
world's poorest countries,
most of which are in
Africa. This was worth
US$40 billion in 2005, and
as much as US$55 billion
as more countries qualify;
- Commitment to end all export
subsidies, and to reduce
domestic subsidies,
which distort world trade;
- Developing countries
would “decide, plan and
sequence their economic
policies to fit with their
own development strategies,
for which they
should be accountable to
their people;”
- As close to universal access
to HIV and AIDS treatment
as possible by 2010;
- Funding for treatment and
nets to combat malaria,
saving the lives of over
600,000 children every year;
- Full funding to totally
eradicate Polio from the
world;
- All children to have access
to good quality, free and
compulsory education and
to basic health care by
2015, free where a country
chooses to provide it;
- Although the comprehensive
package agreed at Gleneagles
would have improved
progress for Africa
towards meeting the MDGs
- a lot of these promises
have remained on paper.
If the SADC region is to
meet the MDGs by 2015, then
much more needs to be done
to meet and implement these
commitments.
