German G8 fails urgency test

Poverty was back on the agenda at this year’s G8 meeting in Heiligendamm, Germany, with over half a million people in the UK raising their voices in advance of the summit. But the G8 leaders failed to take the urgent action needed.

Kumi Naidoo, Chair of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty, said, “We challenge the G8 leaders to look us in the eye and say that they would have acted with the same abhorrent lack of urgency if the children dying needlessly around the world every three seconds were from their own countries.”

Debt campaigners were calling for action on three crucial issues: vulture funds, illegitimate debt, and Liberia. But although there was no backsliding on the commitments made at Gleneagles in 2005 - on debt at least - there was little genuine progress at the summit.

Vulture funds
Debt campaigners were calling on the G8 to help keep vulture funds at bay, including by introducing rules to prevent such funds from targeting countries that have already qualified for debt relief. The Finance Ministers meeting in May had declared its ‘concern’ about the activities of vulture funds. But with reports that the US was reluctant to take a stand, no strong action came out of the G8.

Illegitimate debt
Linked to our current Lift the Lid campaign, Jubilee Germany encouraged campaigners to sign enormous red balloons in advance of the summit saying, in German, “Cancel Illegitimate Debt”. Several had been covered in signatures at the Jubilee Debt Campaign conference in April, while others from around the UK included one signed by International Development Secretary Hilary Benn in Manchester.

There was a reference in the G8 communiqué to a Charter of Responsible Lending, endorsed by the G8 Finance Ministers, but deafening silence as to what this Charter is to contain. Debt campaigners must push for it to spell out how creditors should be responsible and transparent in their lending.

Liberia
Debt campaigners also called for the G8 to get serious about cancelling Liberia’s debt. Liberia was one of the countries promised debt relief at the 2005 G8 summit - but it has STILL not had its arrears cleared and its debts cancelled. With an incredible $3.7 billion of debts run up by former repressive regimes, Liberia needs debt cancellation NOW. But rich countries have been arguing for more than a year over how to clear an initial $1.5 billion of debt.

While the G8 communiqué reaffirmed its commitment to the 2005 G8 debt deal, it did not acknowledge that the existing debt cancellation process is too slow, too limited, and comes with damaging and unfair strings attached. Of the 41 countries promised cancellation in 2005, 19 have yet to receive it.

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