Madam, - If the Group of Eight draft communiqué should come to pass ("G8 members cutting African aid target", The Irish Times, June 30th), it will not only reverse the past 10 years' global work to make poverty history, but it will also be one of the most glaring examples ever of politicians reneging on their promises.
The group of the eight wealthiest countries announced their promises on "more and better aid" amid great fanfare in Gleneagles in 2005, in response to the massive public pressure of the Make Poverty History campaign. Now that the pressure is not so public, the same G8 group seems ready to water down commitments to provide healthcare and education for poor people.
It is particularly astounding that the G8 leaders seem to consider it acceptable to renege on their promises at the very moment that millions of poor people are struggling to afford soaring food prices - and only months away from an important UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals.
The backtracking of the G8 leaders makes the leadership shown by smaller nations such as Ireland all the more exemplary. On July 1st, Minister of State for Overseas Development Peter Power made it abundantly clear that Ireland remains committed to meeting the development aid goal of 0.7 per cent of GNP by 2012 and does not consider aid to fellow human beings a luxury, to be afforded only in time of plenty. Rather, the Irish people and Irish Government know that solidarity and justice are timeless. - Yours, etc,
HANS ZOMER,
Director,
Dóchas (umbrella organisation of NGOs involved in development and relief overseas),
Harcourt Street,
Dublin 2.
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Madam, - Amid protests by global justice campaigners, the G8 members are again this week discussing issues of world poverty, including the current food crisis.
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which are controlled by the G8 members, bear significant responsibility for creating the environment which led to this crisis.
Their practice of attaching economic policy conditions to their lending has fundamentally weakened poor countries by undermining their national agricultural sectors and their farmers' capacity to cope with shocks. This, combined with increasing biofuels production, rising oil prices, and market speculation on agricultural commodities, is pushing an estimated additional 100 million people into extreme poverty.
Urgent action is needed on a range of fronts to assist those affected by this disaster. In the longer term, the World Bank and the IMF must be reined in. An important starting point should be the cancellation of debts owed by impoverished countries, many of which have funded failed projects and have been lent money under dubious circumstances. Ireland has played a positive role internationally in debt cancellation efforts since 2002. Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan should build on this positive history by calling for the cancellation of illegitimate debts. - Yours, etc,
NESSA NÍ CHASAIDE,
Co-ordinator, Debt and Development Coalition Ireland,
North King Street,
Dublin 7.