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Larry Elliott Monday July 17, 2006 The GuardianThe west's leading industrial countries pledged yesterday to step up help to Africa over the next 12 months as they committed themselves to tackling infectious diseases, putting more children in school and securing reliable supplies of energy. Despite fears that development in sub-Saharan Africa would slip off the G8's agenda after its central role at last year's Gleneagles summit, the meeting in St Petersburg admitted that more needed to be done. The summit agreed to an annual review of progress in meeting promises made a year ago, including a $50bn (£27bn) increase in aid, treatment for all HIV/Aids sufferers by 2010 and help to set up an African peacekeeping force. At yesterday's talks, Tony Blair gave an update on action taken on debt relief, aid, conflict resolution and peacekeeping since Gleneagles."Our goal remains a democratic, prosperous and peaceful Africa. We will continue to give our full support to African efforts to secure this," the G8 text said. Development campaigners said the G8 was merely marking time ahead of next year's gathering in Germany. Olly Buston of Data, the lobby group set up by Bob Geldof, said: "The G8 has so far failed to follow up last year's historic commitments to Africa with timebound, concrete, costed plans for delivery. Chancellor [Angela] Merkel is now the most important person on the planet when it comes to keeping the rich world's promises to the poor. She now has a full year to pull together a grand international coalition to get every child in school and treatment for every Aids patient." The G8 said yesterday that it would finance the Global Fund, which fights Aids, TB and malaria, in 2006 and 2007, but only Russia committed new money at the summit. "Five years after calling for the creation of the Global Fund, the G8 has recognised we are saving a lot of lives, and we need more money to do that work - $2.1bn over the next two years," said Richard Feachem, executive director of the Global Fund. "The Russian government has taken a large step by committing $270m to repay everything the Global Fund has spent in Russia, and continuing the programmes we started funding." Make Poverty History Official site
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