Africa will take center stage at this week's G8 summit in Scotland where debate is likely to reflect differing notions of who is primarily responsible for eradicating poverty -- those who have or those who have not.
The outcome of that debate could well determine the success or failure of the gathering and of British Prime Minister Tony Blair's spirited campaign to prick the world's conscience.
Blair, who will host the July 6 to July 8 summit of the planet's richest countries, has insisted with great passion that industrialized nations can no longer escape responsibility for the plight of Africa's millions.
PHOTO: AP
"The state of Africa is a scar on the conscience of the world, but if the world as a community focused on it we could heal it," he declared in a landmark address as he took up the G8 presidency last year.
He and his finance minister, Gordon Brown, have since then tirelessly hammered away at the "conscience of the world," pushing an ambitious program of trade, aid and debt cancellation for Africa that could flourish or flounder depending on what happens at this week's gathering in the Scottish resort of Gleneagles, near Edinburgh.
The initiative risks running headlong into the Bush administration's deep-seated skepticism that more official development aid is the answer, as well as its insistence that such aid be reserved for countries that implement free-market reforms and take bold steps on their own to confront poverty.
While each side in the debate recognizes merit in the other's position, the difference in emphasis threatens to muddle the discussion and doom the summit to an ineffectual conclusion.
Already, a British government official quoted anonymously in the Guardian newspaper has said the parties are "a long way from an agreement" in pre-summit consultations.
At the heart of Blair's initiative is a proposal under which the Group of Eight -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the US -- would pledge to boost African development aid by US$25 billion a year.
The prime minister has lately found articulate allies both in the milieu of pop culture and in academia.
A global rock festival this weekend, with concerts in all G8 countries plus South Africa, was arranged to galvanize public backing for a campaign to "Make Poverty History" as the rich men in suits prepared to confer at Gleneagles.
"By doubling aid, by fully cancelling debt and delivering trade justice for Africa, the G8 could change the future for millions of men, women and children," said British rock star turned activist Bob Geldof.
Another high profile advocate of more aid for Africa has been Jeffrey Sachs of the Earth Institute at Columbia University in New York, who in a recent column in the New York Times alluded to the hurdle Blair must surmount at the summit.
"Africa needs increased investment to rise out of pervasive hunger, disease and poverty," he wrote. "Those investments need to be funded partly by increased aid from the world's rich countries. Europe has come on board. Now Africa's fate rests with a recalcitrant White House."
Sachs' column appeared before the Bush administration's announcement Thursday that total US aid to Africa would be increased from US$4.3 billion last year to US$8.6 billion in 2010.
President George W. Bush has nonetheless come in for stinging criticism from activists and commentators who have faulted him for a less then generous approach to development assistance, one that stands in stark contrast to Blair's inspirational efforts.
The administration in response has trumpeted its Millennium Challenge Account, which ties assistance to embracing democracy and the open market.
But although the effort was launched three years ago, only one African country, Madagascar, has gotten any money.
Bush and other US conservatives insist that while poor nations may need aid, they must first of all establish efficient and corruption-free institutions to ensure that funds from overseas are well-used.
"There is unfortunately not sufficient attention paid to the conditions in which development is delivered," US Treasury Secretary John Snow argued last week.
"Money alone is not the answer."
The US position was later echoed in a just-released research paper from the International Monetary Fund.
"Despite the political momentum in favor of massive aid inflows in the near term, we should not lose sight of issues like how much aid can be handled to begin with, how the aid should be delivered, and when," the study cautioned.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese