Under-fire G8 pledges US$5bn in aid

Leaders from the G8 industrialized countries pledged US$5 billion to help fight child and maternal illness on Friday.

However, the proposals faced an immediate barrage of criticism from development groups, who accused leaders of trying to mask previous unfulfilled promises to help millions out of poverty.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said all G8 countries had pitched in to the US$5 billion “Muskoka Initiative,” named after the lake-dotted Canadian region where G8 leaders gathered.

“We are committed to moving the world towards the day when women in developing countries will not die or suffer disabilities from pregnancy or childbirth,” he said.

However, anti-poverty activists were unimpressed.

“The G8 is trying to quietly shelve their promise to deliver US$50 billion in extra aid by this year,” Oxfam’s Mark Fried said. “Leaders must not be allowed to shirk their responsibility to the world’s poor.”

At a G8 meeting in Scotland in 2005, leaders vowed to increase development aid by US$50 billion by this year, a target that has fallen US$20 billion short, according to Oxfam.

Nevertheless, Harper insisted: “The skepticism this time is not warranted. I think any money we get here pledged to this particular initiative, I am confident that that will be delivered.”

The Canadian prime minister admitted there may have been some reluctance to pledge larger sums as many of the economies represented still labor under the weight of the financial crisis.

Canada, which escaped the world financial crisis largely unscathed, pledged around US$1 billion of new funds, a full 20 percent of the total.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pledged US$1.5 billion.

However, as high-profile UN Millennium Development Goals slip beyond reach, pressure is building for rich countries to act regardless of budgetary constraints.

“Canada has managed to find at least US$1.1 billion to spend on a week of G8 and G20 security, and US$1.1 billion over five years for health in poor countries,” said Guillaume Grosso of development lobby group One.