Panel To Monitor Commitments To Africa

 “British Prime Minister Tony Blair acknowledged Monday that key Group of Eight (G8) commitments to help Africa have not been met, and said he appointed UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to lead a panel monitoring progress toward the goals,” report The Associated Press and Dow Jones.

“Blair said in a speech in London that the Africa Progress Panel will be funded by Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates. … International charities on Monday welcomed the formation of the progress panel, but urged members to hold the G8 to account to ensure it delivers on its promises. …”

Agence France Press notes that “… Blair, who has called the situation in Africa a ‘stain’ on the conscience of the world's rich nations, hopes the panel, will ‘maintain the international political profile of Africa achieved in 2005.’ …”

The BBC (UK) adds that “… the Africa Progress Panel will produce an annual report for the G8, UN and the Africa Partnership Forum - an existing body tasked with monitoring progress in the continent. The panel's members are still being finalized, but among them will be Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and Peter Eigen, the founder of the global anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International. …”

Reuters reports that “Blair said on Monday the G8 had failed to make progress on some of last year's commitments to end global poverty, particularly on world trade. In [his] speech … he singled out trade as his main disappointment in the 2005 agenda but said there was still a chance for a breakthrough. …”

The Guardian (UK) further adds that “Blair set a one-year deadline for a new global deal on climate change as he warned that time was running out to find a way of limiting greenhouse gas emissions. Blair used a report on the progress made since last summer's Gleneagles summit to say that the international community could not afford to spend the five years it took to finalize the Kyoto agreement, under which some developed countries pledged action on global warming. …”

The Independent (UK) writes that “… Blair used [his] speech to call on campaigners to maintain the pressure generated in the run-up to the Gleneagles summit. …  Blair said the Department for International Development budget for education would increase to GBP one billion a year by 2010, and promised efforts to improve secondary and higher education as more children receive primary education. …”

We ARE Making Poverty History: Commentary

 In a commentary published in the Mirror (UK), British Prime Minister Tony Blair writes:

“I was pleased to see the Mirror yesterday hailing the Gleneagles agreements on Africa as historic. It's an overused word, but in this case I believe it is justified.

For the first time, the international community came together to agree a package of measures designed to end the scandal of global poverty. It saw ambitious pledges on aid, on debt relief, on tackling disease and providing basic health care and education. It was also a breakthrough which belonged to millions of people, including many Daily Mirror readers. The extraordinary public support for Make Poverty History and Live8 ensured the world's leaders found the imagination and courage to go the extra mile at the G8 summit. 

But words, no matter how genuine and well-intentioned, do not feed a starving child or get life-saving medicines to the sick. The international community now has to deliver. Global poverty, of course, could never be ended overnight. It was always going to be a long haul and many of the Gleneagles commitments are long-term. But I also understand the impatience for change - the sooner we get started, the quicker we will begin to lift people out of poverty. 

Which is why I set out last night what has happened since Gleneagles, where we are on schedule and where we have fallen behind. It's why, too, I announced the establishment of an Africa Progress Panel, to monitor how the international community is delivering on its commitments to Africa and to chase them up to ensure they do. …

So what's the score card like after 12 months? We shouldn't hide the disappointments, but nor should we underestimate the progress and, perhaps even more importantly, the real change on the ground. 

Global aid is already up by 25 percent - an increase of $20 billion towards the target of a $50 billion rise by 2010. … It has already enabled Zambia this year to provide free health care by abolishing medical fees. Writing off Nigeria's debt will free at least $1 billion a year to help employ 120,000 teachers and put 3.5 million children in school. 

On health, we agreed to intensify the fight against the major diseases that help explain why Africa is the only continent where life expectancy is falling. International Development Secretary Hilary Benn has won agreement for an urgent $3.7 billion injection into the Global Fund to fight Aids, TB and Malaria. …

We have seen innovative thinking, largely thanks to Gordon Brown, in the $4 billion International Finance Facility for Immunization. Launched in September by the UK, France, Italy and Sweden, the aim is to prevent five million deaths from diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough by 2015. 

The world also has to deliver on its commitments in the long-term battle against HIV/AIDS. Following Gleneagles, the international community accepted we should fund every country with a proper plan to prevent the spread of HIV, to treat those affected and support them and their families. This is a hugely ambitious target. It won't be easy to meet. But it's another example of the impact Make Poverty History and the Gleneagles summit have made on international thinking. … 

Where there is reason for disappointment is on trade talks. And that's important. A just global deal is the best way to help people lift themselves out of poverty. We have seen advances in ending agricultural subsidies but not nearly as much as we wanted. We have to work much harder - as I promise to do - to overcome the obstacles. With good will on all sides, we can achieve it. 

So I am not claiming we have achieved everything agreed at Gleneagles. I do, however, believe we have made real progress on delivering on these commitments - as we have on supporting African peace-keeping and in providing emergency aid. I can promise as well that Gordon, Hilary and I - and the whole government - are determined to work flat out to ensure this progress is accelerated in the coming months. But we also know it was thanks to the efforts of millions of people that the plight of Africa was catapulted to the top of the international agenda. 

It is up to you to ensure it doesn't slip out of the headlines. That's why it is important for you to keep up the pressure on me, on the government and the international community to continue the long drive to Make Poverty History.” 

Spain To Donate Some $1.2 Billion For UN Millennium Development Goals

 “The Spanish government announced in a statement on Monday that it will donate EUR 935 million (about $1.2 billion) for the United Nations Millennium Development Goals in 2006, 78 percent more than that in 2004,” reports Xinhua (China).

“Leire Pajin, Secretary of State for International Cooperation, signed an agreement on Monday with Eveline Herfkens, the UN Executive Coordinator, to deliver the money to the millennium campaign, the statement said. Pajin said the agreement represents ‘a very important advance in quality and quantity, but there is still a long way to go.’ …”

Europe Press (Spain) adds that “… for his part, Herfkens praised the Government of Spain for its generous offer focuding more attention on developing nations to help them meet the goals. He further noted it is now the first time in history that humans had resources, knowledge and consensus to end poverty. …”

World Bank Offers Bulgaria Continuing Partnership

  “As a result of its tangible progress, Bulgaria has come very close to its EU membership, Shigeo Katsu, World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia, said in Sofia on Monday, emerging from a meeting with Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev,” Bulgarian News Agency BTA reports.

“In the short period until its actual accession to the EU, Bulgaria needs to undergo a difficult period of intensive preparations, he said, adding that the World Bank wants to support the country in its preparations and in its post-accession efforts to achieve cohesion with the rest of the EU. The Bank hopes that the experience amassed during the 15 years of its relations with Bulgaria will benefit the countries which follow behind on the path to EU membership, Katsu said.

Stanishev said that he and Katsu discussed the Bank's Partnership Strategy for Bulgaria for 2006-2009, which envisages the release of up to $300 million in loans annually. … The program covers, among other areas, infrastructure and social development, including health care and education….”

IFC Announces Its 1st Real-Denominated Financing In Brazil

  “The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-sector arm of the World Bank, on Monday announced its first real-denominated financing project in Brazil, 115 million Brazilian reals ($51.6 million) in seven-year financing to Banco BBM S.A.,” reports Dow Jones.

“In a press release, the IFC said ‘Banco BBM will use funding proceeds from the transaction to expand its medium-tenor lending to midsize companies.’ The transaction involves a subscription to a cross-border, real-linked bond, the IFC said. The IFC said the transaction was likely the first of several projects aiming to support the operations of medium-size Brazilian banks. In Brazil, such banks often have small and midsized companies as their loan clients.”

Reuters writes that “… Saran Kebet-Koulibaly, Associate Director for Latin America and the Caribbean and IFC head of Brazil operations noted, ‘We are very enthusiastic about this new type of business opportunity, since midsize financial institutions play an important role in promoting competition and efficiency improvements in the country's banking sector.’ Banco BBM is Brazil's oldest private-sector bank.”

Also in This Edition: Also Reports and Briefly Noted...

Also Reports… The Hindustan Times (India) writes that deepening income inequalities in South Asian countries may impede the recent strong economic growth witnessed in the region, the World Bank’s ‘Economic Growth in South Asia’ report cautioned. With nearly 400 million poor people, poverty in South Asia is not just endemic, but increasingly concentrated in lagging regions, the report states. The report further notes that building on recent strong growth, countries in South Asia can dramatically reduce poverty by embracing policies aimed at increasing investment and productivity, and improving the quality of labor, while addressing pervasive income inequalities and poor service delivery. 

Xinhua(China), People’s Daily Online (China) and United News of Bangladesh Limited also report on the World Bank’s ‘Economic Growth in South Asia’ report.

Briefly Noted… Vietnam News Agency Bulletin reports that education ministers and deputy ministers from six African nations - Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Lesotho, Madagascar, and Mozambique - and Vietnam met for the first time at a conference on educational exchange in Ha Noi on June 26. The conference is co-hosted by Vietnam's Education and Training Ministry and the World Bank.

Reuters reports that Russia has little chance of meeting its 2006 inflation target if budget spending continues to rise, unless it allows further ruble strengthening, the International Monetary Fund said on Monday. Consumer prices spiked 5 percent in the first quarter of 2006, a heavy blow to hopes of Russia achieving its annual inflation target of 8.5 - 9 percent. But price growth slowed in the second quarter after the central bank allowed the rouble to rise in nominal terms. 

Xinhua (China) writes that the Spanish government announced in a statement on Monday that it will donate EUR 935 million (about $1.2 billion) for the United Nations Millennium Development Goals in 2006, 78 percent more than that in 2004. Leire Pajin, Secretary of State for International Cooperation, signed an agreement on Monday with Eveline Herfkens, the UN Executive Coordinator, to deliver the money to the millennium campaign, the statement said.

In a commentary published in The Financial Times (UK), Michelle Bachelet, President of Chile writes, “Chilean women are increasingly entering the formal job market, which is fundamental for the growth and development of a country. Salaried employment improves women’s self-perception and enables them better to resist domestic violence when it occurs. Furthermore, the workplace offers them protection when their peers or superiors support or encourage them to reject such aggression. We must guarantee that women may leave their small children in competent hands when they go to work. That is why my government intends to establish a child-protection system designed to provide equal development opportunities for children during their first eight years of life, explicitly incorporating the conditions necessary for the entrance of women into the job market. …”

Reuters reports that the US will drop its insistence that rich nations withhold funds from the UN budget next month unless management reforms are enacted, US Ambassador John Bolton said on Friday. But he warned that, while President George W. Bush's administration was in favor of paying US dues in full this year, Congress might not be so amenable because of the slow pace of reforms.

The Associated Press writes that developing countries have launched an Internet-based news service, aiming to provide an alternative to the Western media. "NAM News Network," a joint effort of the 116 member countries of the Nonaligned Movement, was formally inaugurated Tuesday by Malaysian Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin, although it has been live online since April 17. The Web-based news service will carry about 60 news items daily, as well as photographs, contributed by 35 news agencies and news organizations of NAM member countries in Asia, West Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe.

The Associated Press reports that French President Jacques Chirac and leaders of South Pacific nations pressed Monday for more efforts to battle global warming. Sixteen countries -- mostly tiny island nations -- took part in a daylong France-Oceania summit in Paris to discuss economic and environmental issues facing the region. France has territories in the region.

Reuters writes that the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004 showed both countries and aid groups need better early-response planning to help them cope with future disasters, Samlee Plianbangchang, World Health Organization Regional Director for Southeast Asia, told Reuters by telephone from Bali. Experts from the UN, NGOs and Southeast and South Asia governments are meeting this week to discuss how to put into effect the tsunami’s lessons. Plianbangchang noted that helping people better handle the first stages of a disaster was one of the tsunami's lessons