The G8 and accountability - not two words that sit together easily. But the G8 have this year declared that they will report on what progress they have made in meeting their historic G8 commitments. Among these promises, is the commitment on water and sanitation made at the Evian Summit in 2003. So how have they performed?
What they said:
Collectively, the G8 is the largest donor to the sector:
-Progress has been made since 2003 but there is much to do.
-Overseas Development Aid disbursed by the G8 for the water sector has more than tripled between 2002 and 2007.
-The launch of the Water Action Plan in 2003 appears to be an important milestone in this trend.
What we think:
-Together the G8 is the biggest water and sanitation donor so they must act to address the crisis.
-Let's keep 'progress' in perspective: 2.5 billion without a toilet; Africa due to meet sanitation MDG a century too late.
-Overseas Development Aid has tripled but the bulk of these increases has been for reconstruction efforts in Iraq.
-The decisive milestone for this trend is Iraq not Evian.
And a couple of points the G8 forgot to mention:
-Africa's share declining. While G8 aid to water has tripled since 2002, the share goes to sub-Saharan Africa has declined from 24% to 18%.
-Aid for water not keeping pace. Between 2002-2007, G8 aid to education increased by about $5 billion 2002-2007 but aid to water increased by less than half that.
-Aid to Iraq masks weak G8 action. Aid to Iraq went from ZERO% of G8 aid for water to 26% in one year (2005) and in 2005 and 2006 Iraq alone recieved more aid for water than the whole of sub-Saharan Africa.
VERDICT: No need to revise the score we gave the G8 on the back of the communique - a paltry 3/10.
Tomorrow, the G8 meet with African leaders and hope to announce a joint statement. Let's see what they come up with but we're not expecting big things.
What they said:
Collectively, the G8 is the largest donor to the sector:
-Progress has been made since 2003 but there is much to do.
-Overseas Development Aid disbursed by the G8 for the water sector has more than tripled between 2002 and 2007.
-The launch of the Water Action Plan in 2003 appears to be an important milestone in this trend.
What we think:
-Together the G8 is the biggest water and sanitation donor so they must act to address the crisis.
-Let's keep 'progress' in perspective: 2.5 billion without a toilet; Africa due to meet sanitation MDG a century too late.
-Overseas Development Aid has tripled but the bulk of these increases has been for reconstruction efforts in Iraq.
-The decisive milestone for this trend is Iraq not Evian.
And a couple of points the G8 forgot to mention:
-Africa's share declining. While G8 aid to water has tripled since 2002, the share goes to sub-Saharan Africa has declined from 24% to 18%.
-Aid for water not keeping pace. Between 2002-2007, G8 aid to education increased by about $5 billion 2002-2007 but aid to water increased by less than half that.
-Aid to Iraq masks weak G8 action. Aid to Iraq went from ZERO% of G8 aid for water to 26% in one year (2005) and in 2005 and 2006 Iraq alone recieved more aid for water than the whole of sub-Saharan Africa.
VERDICT: No need to revise the score we gave the G8 on the back of the communique - a paltry 3/10.
Tomorrow, the G8 meet with African leaders and hope to announce a joint statement. Let's see what they come up with but we're not expecting big things.
0 comments:
Post a Comment