[Africa] It's time for an African Renaissance...

Advocating world leaders to pick up the arms to fight poverty using measures of dramatic aid increase, debt relief and anti-corruption strategies in the African Commission report released this month, British prime minister Tony Blair is convinced that wealthy nations need to wake up, smell the stark reality of poverty in Africa and pay their share.

"There can be no excuse, no defence, no justification for the plight of millions of our fellow beings in Africa today. There should be nothing that stands in our way of changing it. That is the simple message from the report," said Mr Blair, unveiling the findings of his Africa Commission at the British Museum in central London on Friday, March 11, 2005.

The 400-page report, Our Common Interest, calls on the international community to immediately double foreign aid to Africa, to $50bn (£26bn), and make fighting Aids a priority. It sets 100% debt cancellation as a goal and urges rich nations to drop trade barriers that hurt poor countries. The report calls for a partnership with African leaders, who it says must move faster toward democracy, tackle corruption and end the conflicts that block aid from producing results.

Mr. Blair has made helping Africa a priority for Britain's presidencies this year of both the EU and the G8 group of wealthiest nations. His hope, however, is an international acceptance of the report as a blueprint for an African Renaissance. While he promises his best to deliver the message, he still has not won the commitment from developed nations, in particular the G8, to fund the $25 bn annual increase in aid the report calls for by 2010.

"In a world where prosperity is increasing and more people are sharing each year in this growing wealth, it is an obscenity that should haunt our daily thoughts that 4 million children in Africa will die this year before their fifth birthday," Mr Blair said, calling for a new partnership between the developed world and Africa "that goes beyond the old donor and recipient relationship".

"If we fail to act we will betray the future not only of hundreds, millions of children in Africa but of our own children, too. It is unthinkable that we should do so," he said.

Africans and others working to solve the continent's problems said the challenge was to implement the report's recommendations.

"Unless we deliver, it'll just be another report," said Myles Wickstead, the director of the Commission for Africa.

The chancellor, Gordon Brown, spelled out the results of previous failed initiatives. The promise of the millennium development goals to halve poverty in Africa by 2015, he said, would not be met on current trends until 2150, and the promise to halve maternal and infant mortality by 2015 would not be met until 2165.

"Africans have long known the virtues of patience, but the world should know that 150 years is too long to wait for justice," he said.

Commissioner Anna Tibaijuka, of Tanzania, gave a sobering account of failed international promises. She described growing up and seeing the promise of independence squandered and successive UN promises to commit to Africa founder. She said that, in 1980, the UN called upon the developed world to commit 0.7% of annual income to aid for Africa, the same call being made in Mr Blair's report. It never happened.

That spectre of failed promises obviously haunted Mr Blair, who said he feared the judgment of future generations, who would ask: "How could wealthy people so aware of such suffering just turn away and busy themselves with other things?"

based on a report by Sarah Left, The Guardian

Category: Africa

[Asia] China sets up poverty reduction fund

[World News]: MANILA, Philippines, March 11 : The Asian Development Bank said Friday China has contributed $20 million to set up a fund to help fight poverty across Asia.The Manila-based ADB said that the regional cooperation and poverty reduction fund is the first fund to be set up by a developing nation.The money will be used to finance poverty reduction initiatives, and all developing nations which are members of the ADB will be eligible for grants.

--United Press International

[Global Poverty] £136 million for research to combat poverty

Press Release - Department For International Development

A major injection of cash for research into projects to help combat world poverty was announced by International Development Secretary, Hilary Benn, today.

He said DFID’s research budget will increase by almost 60% over the next two years, increasing from £86 million this year to £136 million per year in 2007.

The increase in scientific, technological and policy will help in areas such as

Drugs to fight HIV and AIDS,

Climate change and

Helping African farmers be more productive.

Hilary Benn said:

“Making science and technology work for the poor is a vital tool to help halve world poverty

“This extra £50 million a year increase in research funding means we can do more work in our priority areas of sustainable agriculture, especially in Africa; tackling killer diseases such as malaria, TB and HIV and Aids; helping states work for the poor; and dealing with the impact of climate change on poor people.

Progress in these will bring real and lasting benefits to people in the developing world and reinforce the UK’s role as a leading investor in international development research.

“However, globally, there is not enough research funding to meet needs. We hope this extra £50 million a year from the UK will be an inspiration to the wider development community to follow suit.

“DFID funds are already supporting research into: malaria drugs and bed nets; TB drugs and health services; HIV/AIDS vaccines and microbicides; sexual health; drought resistant crops; crop diseases and agricultural production; livestock vaccines; causes of conflict; fragile states; escaping long-term poverty; economic growth”.

“We funded studies into a common antibiotic which has dramatically reduced deaths among children who are HIV positive; new strains of millet which are resistant to pests and a new vaccine which doesn’t have to be refrigerated and could make millions more doses of vaccine available to children inremote areas.

“But it’s no good having world class science if you don’t have a working state or the infrastructure to use it. Recently, WARDA, the Africa Rice Centre that produced the NERICAs – the new miracle Africa rice varieties - was forced to move to Benin from its Ivory Coast headquarters, fleeing from armed conflict. This highlights how political instability and poor governance threaten high quality research that has the potential to massively improve lives and livelihoods in Africa. And it underpins the need for investment in wider governance and reform processes.”

“The need for more research is clear. Malaria kills 3000 people every day; there is no vaccine against HIV/AIDS; we do not have a clear view about what kind of approaches work to reduce conflict; and we do not have high-yielding, drought-resistant crops appropriate for the diverse and rapidly changing eco-systems of Africa. The increase in the research budget will allow DFID to commission further work to help find solutions.”

[Borgen Project] Big Thanks

Special thanks to photographer Brian Smale for doing a pro-bono photo shoot for the Borgen Project. As one of the best in the business, Mr. Smale photographs celebrities, athletes, business leaders and other public figures. His work appears in top magazines and on book covers. For those looking for photograhper friendly to the cause visit www.briansmale.com.