A $50 billion (€42bn) aid package for Africa has been agreed at the G8 summit in Scotland.
The leaders of the world’s seven richest nations plus Russia said doubling the aid for Africa was a message of hope that countered the hatred behind yesterday’s the London bomb attacks.
The announcement is a personal triumph for host, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who had for some time been determined to secure a significant deal on African poverty.
"We speak today in the shadow of terrorism but it will not obscure what we came here to achieve," Mr Blair said.
Flanked by fellow G8 leaders and seven African heads of government on the steps of the Gleneagles hotel in Scotland, Mr Blair said: "It isn't the end of poverty in Africa but it is the hope that it can be ended."
Campaigners described the increase as welcome progress but said it fell far short of the hopes of millions of people who had backed the Make Poverty History campaign and attended the Live 8 concerts around the world to put pressure on the G8.
"The world's richest nations have delivered welcome progress for the world's poor people but the outcome here in Gleneagles has fallen short of the hopes of the millions around the world campaigning for a momentous breakthrough," said Jo Leadbeater, head of policy for the aid agency Oxfam.
Mr Blair defended the deal saying "big progress" had been made "and we should be proud of it".
Annual development aid to Africa will double by 2010 - provided the commitments are honoured which is far from guaranteed. Other G8 nations including the US, Germany and Italy rejected a British proposal to double funding for Africa immediately by borrowing against future aid budgets. Ands some experts question whether African states could absorb such a large increase in a short time.
The aid is partly contingent on stamping out corruption and adopting western practices in public administration.
The G8 leaders also agreed to start talks on global warming with major emerging economies such as India and China. Environmentalists said their declaration was a missed opportunity to take concrete action on climate change.
On the world economy, they called for more investment in refining as well as greater access for foreign investors to oil-rich states to tackle record high oil prices. They pledged to end farm export subsidies - a major demand of African nations who say they cannot compete when rich countries help their farmers dump produce in poor states.
They did not set a date for the move - which will be met with fierce resistance in Ireland - but Mr Blair said he believed a meeting of world trade ministers in Hong Kong in December will agree to eliminating farm export subsidies by 2010.
In foreign policy, the G8 agreed a package of aid worth up to $3 billion (€2.5bn) to help the Palestinian Authority and foster peace in the Middle East.
Agencies