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"A truckload of nonsense"

The G8 plan to save Africa comes with conditions that make it little more than an extortion racket. George Monbiot, Tuesday June 14, 2005, The Guardian. An aura of sanctity is descending upon the world's most powerful men. On Saturday the finance ministers from seven of the G8 nations (Russia was not invited) promised to cancel the debts the poorest countries owe to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The hand that holds the sword has been stayed by angels: angels with guitars rather than harps.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,1505927,00.html

(Added: Wed Jun 15 2005   Hits: 291)

"Bush, Blair Hope To Eliminate African Debt" [Speech Text]

07 June 2005, Washington DC. Embassy of the U.S. London. "Hosting Blair at the White House June 7, the president said the United States and the United Kingdom are developing a proposal for the upcoming Group of Eight (G8) Nations Summit to eliminate the debt in a way that will "preserve the financial integrity of the World Bank and the African Development Bank."

http://www.usembassy.org.uk/gb014.html

(Added: Mon Jun 13 2005   Hits: 128)

"The G8 Summit: a fraud and a circus"

By John Pilger. 24 June 2005. "Africa's imperial plunder and tragedy have been turned into a circus for the benefit of the so-called G8 leaders due in Scotland next month and those of us willing to be distracted by the barkers of the circus: the establishment media and its "celebrities". The illusion of an anti establishment crusade led by pop stars - a cultivated, controlling image of rebellion - serves to dilute a great political movement of anger. In summit after summit, not a single significant "promise" of the G8 has been kept, and the "victory for millions" is no different. It is a fraud..."

http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2005-06/24pilger.cfm

(Added: Mon Jun 27 2005   Hits: 306)

'Energy Security' Plan Panned over Climate, Nuclear Concerns

Leaders of the Group of Eight have drawn fire from international civil society groups after they embraced an energy plan that favors continued reliance on oil and other fossil fuels with no hint of any solid steps to deal with the impending threat of climate change. (Haider Rizvi, OneWorld US, 18 July 2006)

http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/136639/1/4536

(Added: Mon Jul 24 2006   Hits: 182)

African Civil Society's Statement on Recent Debt Cancellation Proposals

10th June 2005, AFRODAD "As African Civil society Organizations (CSOs) working on Debt and Economic Justice issues, we welcome these short-term efforts of creditor countries to address the debt crisis as part of their admission that current initiatives are inadequate. However, we feel that both the UK and US proposals should be more comprehensive and inclusive."

http://www.un-ngls.org/cso/cso8/afrodad.pdf

(Added: Mon Jun 13 2005   Modified: Thu May 18 2006   Hits: 115)

G8 Finance Ministers' Conclusions on Development

Official statement by G8 Foreign Ministers, 11 June 2005, London. Includes G8 Proposals on HIPC debt cancellation to 18 African countries.

http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/otherhmtsites/g7/news/conclusions_on_development_110605.cfm

(Added: Mon Jun 13 2005   Hits: 120)

G8 Gleneagles 2005

UK government website for the 2005 G8. The G8 stands for the 'Group of Eight' nations. At the Summit, the leaders of the eight member countries discuss major issues of the day. They seek to reach informal agreements on measures that they can take individually, but in a cooperative manner, to achieve their goals more effectively. At each Summit, leaders agree upon certain initiatives; there are follow-up meetings throughout the year to make sure commitments are being honoured.

http://www.g8.gov.uk

(Added: Mon Jul 18 2005   Hits: 102)

G8 Information Centre

What is the G8? This website provides information on past and present G8 summits, research and other resources about the G8. The G8 Information Centre is provided by the University of Toronto Library and the G8 Research Group at the University of Toronto.

http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/

(Added: Wed Sep 14 2005   Modified: Tue Dec 06 2005   Hits: 134)

G8 Summit 2005

The G8 Summit 2005 outcome was not as good as hoped for, for poor countries. While the aid increases and debt write-off were welcome, the spin accompanying it hid how little they really were as inflated figures or subtly misleading phrases were used instead. This Global Issues website highlights some of the problems with the Summit outcome but acknowledges that the outcome has created a 'glimmer of hope' for the future

http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Debt/g8summit2005.asp

(Added: Mon Dec 19 2005   Hits: 67)

In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security and Human Rights for All

(United Nations, New York, 20 March) Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called on leaders to reach a new global deal to tackle the challenges of development, security and human rights, and to overhaul the United Nations. The recommendations in his report, titled In larger freedom: Towards development, security and human rights for all, lay the groundwork for decisions at the upcoming summit of world leaders at the UN in September 2005. Taking its name from a key phrase of the UN Charter, which speaks of social progress and better standards of life "in larger freedom", the report promotes a realignment of the world body to give additional weight to key development, security and human rights issues, while setting out plans to make the UN more efficient, open and accountable. Its recommendations are drawn in part from the conclusions of two UN-commissioned panels on collective security and on the anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals, as well as promises made in the Millennium Declaration of 2000.

http://www.un.org/largerfreedom/

(Added: Tue Mar 22 2005   Modified: Mon Jul 02 2007   Hits: 626)

Make the Toyako Summit 2008 the Last G8 Summit!

A different initiative to mobilize Japanese people against the G8 summit which is taking place in 2008, in Toyako town, Hokkaido Prefecture, is emerging. How do you see the present G8 strategy and what kind of struggle is important and necessary for movements against the G8, especially against the Japanese government that plays a key role in controlling other Asian countries through the G8 and Asian monetary system?

http://www.focusweb.org/make-the-toyako-summit-2008-the-last-g8-summit.html?Itemid=157

(Added: Fri May 16 2008   Hits: 34)

MDG-Based PRSPs Need More Ambitious Economic Policies [Doc]

Terry McKinley, Policy Discussion Paper, United Nations Development Programme. Jan 2005. This paper identifies implications for economic policies of basing Poverty Reduction Strategies on the ambitious, long-term framework of the Millennium Development Goals. One of its main objectives is to open up the dialogue on the policy content of Poverty Reduction Strategies and promote greater policy choice for national policymakers.

http://www.choike.org/documentos/undp_mdg2005.pdf

(Added: Tue May 17 2005   Modified: Mon Jul 02 2007   Hits: 440)

Mission unaccomplished: One year on from Gleneagles, is the G8 hitting its targets on debt, trade and aid?

The Make Poverty History campaign generated massive public pressure for action - on debt cancellation, trade justice and more and better aid - and pushed poverty to the top of the agenda when the world's most powerful countries met at the G8 summit at Gleneagles in Scotland in July 2005. G8 leaders responded with a series of pledges - on debt, trade and aid, and on HIV and AIDS, which promised to help address the needs of more than one billion people living in extreme poverty. One year on, this 20 page report analyses to what extent the G8 has kept its promises. It finds that, while the result varies between countries, the G8 has not done what it said it would do on trade, and is letting the targets on aid and HIV and AIDS slip. The report urges swift action to get the Gleneagles commitments back on track. (Patrick Watt and Tom Sharman, Action Aid, June 2006)

http://www.actionaid.org.uk/doc_lib/g8_1-report.pdf

(Added: Tue Jun 27 2006   Modified: Tue Aug 15 2006   Hits: 209)

NGOs comment on UN Secretary General Report : "In Larger Freedom"

UN Non-Governmental Liaison Service. This webpage has an extensive list of accessible responses made by NGOs to the UN Secretary General report: "In Larger Freedom: towards freedom, security and human rights for all".

http://www.un-ngls.org/sg-report-NGOs-comment.htm

(Added: Wed May 25 2005   Modified: Wed Jan 17 2007   Hits: 352)

Text: G-8 Chair Cites Accomplishments of Kananaskis Summit

Leaders of the Group of Eight (G-8) countries concluded a two-day summit June 27 following talks that focused on counter-terrorism, debt relief for poor countries, aid to Africa, the health of the global economy and efforts to curb proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.Following is the text of the Kananaskis Summit Chair's Summary as released by the government of Canada

http://usinfo.state.gov/topical/econ/group8/02062703.htm

(Added: Fri Jun 28 2002   Modified: Tue Jan 10 2006   Hits: 101)

The DATA Report 2007

The 2007 DATA Report is the second annual report monitoring the G8's progress in delivering its commitments to Africa by 2010. Tracking progress in Africa is equally, if not more, important but is best carried out by African civil society organisations. Significantly, this year's report measures progress in 2006 - the year when policy changes agreed in 2005 should have begun to take effect. Much more than the 2006 DATA Report, this report is a measure of how seriously the G8 are taking their promises (DATA, 2007).

http://www.thedatareport.org/pdf/DATAREPORT2007.pdf

(Added: Wed Oct 03 2007   Modified: Thu Oct 04 2007   Hits: 45)

The view from the summit - Gleneagles G8 one year on

One year has passed since the G8 summit in Gleneagles in July 2005, where 36 million people in over 70 countries united under the Global Call to Action against Poverty. As the Russian G8 approaches, this paper explores progress (or the lack thereof) since the G8 in Gleneagles in the areas of debt, aid, conflict, trade, and climate change. (Oxfam, June 2006)

http://oxfam.intelli-direct.com/e/d.dll?m=234&url=http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_we_do/issues/debt_aid/downloads/g8_gleneagles_oneyear.pdf

(Added: Wed Jun 28 2006   Modified: Tue Aug 15 2006   Hits: 188)

What is G8 and why should you care?

The G8 (Group of 8) are eight of the most economically and politically powerful countries: the United States, Canada, Britain, Germany, Japan, Italy, France and Russia.The G8 countries have an enormous share of the world's wealth, which has given them a lot of power. The G8 record on the environment, trade issues and debt relief is less than stellar. From debt relief to illegal logging, the G8 rarely acts on its concern by committing real resources to combat the problems, preferring to rely on "free market" policies to solve complicated social, environmental and economic issues

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/fungames/animations/why-should-you-care-about-the

(Added: Fri Jun 28 2002   Modified: Tue Jan 10 2006   Hits: 137)