G8’s Summit of shame and spin

With no new action on debt cancellation, a rash of empty pledges and a complete lack of analysis of the causes of poverty, they haven’t made any real progress on poverty reduction, the charity says.

"This is like robbing Peter to pay Paul." said War on Want’s Senior Campaigner Steve Tibbett in Genoa today. "One-off funds and intiatives don't address the underlying causes of poverty. The global health fund is simply not big enough to make a real impact and more importantly it’s not new money. By taking the money from existing aid budgets governments are cynically repackaging existing funds to put a gloss on their own inaction".

Kofi Annan has estimated that as much as $10 billion will be needed to make a difference on health issues like AIDS. The US government has spent more than $5 billion this year alone on its developing its contravertial missile defence system and in 1998 bailed out failing hedge fund Long Term Capital Management to the tune of $3.75 billion.

"In the context of how much money these countries have got, and how many people live in overwhelming poverty, a global fund of just over $1 billion and a plan for Africa with no money to back it up, is just not good enough" said Mr Tibbett.