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Africa Action Dismisses 'Misdirected' G-8 Announcements on Africa

Africa Action (Washington, DC)
PRESS RELEASE
June 10, 2004
Posted to the web June 10, 2004

Calls AIDS and Debt Relief Plans "Inadequate and Off-Target"; Condemns weak
statement on Genocide in Sudan
As leaders of the "Group of Eight" met with leaders from six African countries
on the final day of the G-8 summit in Sea Island, Georgia, today, Africa Action
dismissed announcements of new initiatives on debt relief and HIV/AIDS as
"wholly inadequate and off-target." It also condemned the failure of the G-8 to
call for immediate intervention to stop the unfolding genocide in Darfur,
western Sudan, and address the urgent humanitarian crisis, where more than one
million people are now at risk as a result of an ongoing government-sponsored
campaign of ethnic cleansing.
Africa Action's Executive Salih Booker said this morning, "Africa's AIDS crisis
and the continent's debt burden are two urgent life-and-death priorities for
the continent, yet the G-8 today has offered nothing new or concrete on either
one. Once again, the now traditional invitation of African leaders to
participate in the tail-end of the G-8 summit has only served to highlight the
asymmetry of power between rich and poor nations, and the growing disparity
between the world's wealthy minority and the impoverished majority."
Africa Action notes that the Global HIV/AIDS Vaccine Initiative discussed at
today's meeting does little to address the immediate priority in the global
fight against this pandemic. Almost 30 million Africans are currently living
with HIV/AIDS, and only 2% of these people have access to life-saving
treatment. The Global Fund to fight AIDS is unable to meet the desperate
funding needs of African countries because G-8 leaders still refuse to commit
sufficient resources to this crucial vehicle. In the context of these urgent
priorities, Africa Action has described today's announcement on AIDS as "a
cynical distraction from the real needs of Africans and the real obligations of
the world's wealthiest countries."
On the issue of debt relief for African countries and other impoverished
nations, Africa Action has expressed its deep disappointment at the outcome of
today's G-8 meeting. Salih Booker said today, "The refusal of the G-8 to move
beyond the failed framework of the HIPC initiative demonstrates the insincerity
of their commitments to resolve Africa's debt crisis. Washington continues to
practice an unacceptable double standard when it advocates for the cancellation
of Iraq's odious debts, but refuses to apply the same terms to the illegitimate
debts of African countries. The extension of HIPC is but a shell game. Short of
cancellation, the only steps that would represent progress would be an
immediate moratorium and an inventory of odious debts."
As reports of genocide continue to emerge from Darfur, Sudan, and as a
desperate humanitarian emergency occurs in that region, Africa Action strongly
condemned the complete inadequacy of the G-8 response. Salih Booker said, "The
international community this year remembered Rwanda's genocide a decade ago,
but it remains unwilling to take the necessary steps to avert a similar
catastrophe in Darfur. We should call this what it is - "genocide". What is
needed is an urgent military intervention to stop the killing, enforce the
cease-fire and provide security for the delivery of humanitarian assistance. If
such killings were happening on European soil, the response would be very
different."
Booker added, "Instead of talking out of their hats about training 50,000
peacekeepers, the G-8 leaders must act NOW to put boots on the ground in Sudan
to halt genocide, as is required by international convention."

   

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