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Consequences

Broken promises leave three million children to die in Africa
As Blair and Bush close in on deal over debt, UN report reveals human cost

Larry Elliott and Patrick Wintour in Washington
Wednesday June 8, 2005

Three million children will die in the poorest countries of sub-Saharan Africa as a result of the failure of the global community to meet its promise of slashing the death rates of the under-fives by 2015, the UN will reveal tomorrow.

Thanks to Beth for the link.

Expecting Good News From George, or...

"Keep Those Cards & Letters Coming"

President Bush on Tuesday is expected to announce an additional $674 million in aid for African humanitarian relief efforts at a joint news conference with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, according to an unnamed official at the National Security Council, the New York Times reports (Stevenson, New York Times, 6/7). The money will be directed toward famine relief in Ethiopia, Eritrea and other African countries and will provide food for approximately 14 million people, according to the official. The $674 million will come from a USDA food reserve program and from funding provided by a recent supplemental appropriations bill to support ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the official said. The United States already has pledged $1.4 billion in aid in the current fiscal year through the United Nations and nongovernmental organizations, according to the official (Baker, Washington Post, 6/7). Blair also is expected to announce a British contribution to the initiative, although the amount has not been disclosed (Gardiner, AP/ABCNews.com, 6/7). The initiative appears to be an effort to "take some of the sting" out of the United States' "differences" with Britain over African aid, according to the Times (New York Times, 6/7). U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown at a February meeting of the Group of Seven industrialized nations proposed increasing aid to developing nations to $100 billion annually through an International Finance Facility, which would frontload development aid to help Africa meet the U.N. Millennium Development Goals. Brown has said that more than 50 countries have expressed support for the initiative, although the United States so far has failed to fully endorse the plan. Although the Bush administration supports 100% debt cancellation for the world's poorest countries, the United States does not support the U.K. plan to raise funds for poverty alleviation (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 6/2).

(From Kaiser Network.org)

A Prophet In His Own Country...

Readers of this blog will know that I am a fan of Stephen Lewis. Here, Stephen does what he does best - takes a country to task for it's track record and continued waffling on a firm commitment. That country? His and mine - Canada.

U.N. Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa Stephen Lewis on Friday told a meeting of the Public Service Alliance of Canada that it is "shameful" that Canada and other Western countries have not pledged to set a target date to commit 0.7% of gross national income to foreign aid, including aid to combat HIV/AIDS, the CP/Edmonton Journal reports. Lewis said foreign aid from Western countries "isn't keeping up with the AIDS crisis in Africa" and is a "major barrier" to distributing antiretroviral drugs in affected countries, according to the CP/Journal. The United Kingdom and Spain have pledged to meet the 0.7% funding goal by 2013 and France plans to meet the goal by 2011, according to Lewis. However, Canada, the United States and Japan have not committed to target dates. Lewis, who is Canadian, said Canada should commit to a date of 2015 or sooner (CP/Edmonton Journal, 6/4). Speaking to the Canadian Society of Respiratory Therapists on Saturday, Lewis said Canada's pledge of $100 million for HIV/AIDS treatment and its doubling of its contribution to the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria are "laudable," but the country's foreign aid budget still is "woefully inadequate" and is a "black eye" for the country internationally, according to the Edmonton Journal. Lewis said that because of budgetary surpluses in Canada, Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin's refusal to set a target date to achieve 0.7% in foreign aid "makes no sense" and could be "undermining other good work the country is doing on the world stage, particularly in the fight against AIDS" (Jeffs, Edmonton Journal, 6/5).

(From Kaiser Network.org)

Live 8

A letter from Sir Bob Geldof:

By being part of the Make Poverty History campaign you've done a lot over the last six months to create the golden opportunity to change the world that is in our grasp now.

That's why I wanted to tell you about Live 8 myself.

Let me start by saying, this is not Live Aid 2 - this time its not people's money we need, it's themselves. The five concerts taking place around the world are the starting point for The Long Walk To Justice, an event that will see hundreds of thousands of people heading to Edinburgh to tell the G8 leaders that the whole world is expecting them to deliver.

By doubling aid, fully cancelling debt, and delivering trade justice for Africa, the G8 have it within their power to change the future for millions of men, women and children. What we need to do is show them in our millions that we care and that we're watching.

Whether you're starting things off in Edinburgh on the Saturday at the vitally important Make Poverty History rally, or planning to head to the Scottish capital later in the week, the really vital thing is that you see your good work through and send a message loud and clear to those 8 men - now is the time, this is the year, you can make poverty history.

Thanks and good luck,
Bob

Here's the concert schedule:

When: Saturday 2nd July, 2005.
Where:
France – Palais de Versailles, Paris
Germany – Brandenberg Gate, Berlin
Italy – Circus Maximus, Rome
UK – Hyde Park, London
USA – Venue TBC, Philadelphia

Click here for a list of the artists appearing at each venue, and here for ticket/admission information.

Day 141

Day 141 of Bush's Silence
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: May 31, 2005
New York Times

Today marks Day 141 of Mr. Bush's silence on the genocide, for he hasn't let the word Darfur slip past his lips publicly since Jan. 10 (even that was a passing reference with no condemnation).

Link to full article

America Now

Let's take stock, shall we? We've called Paul Martin so many times they've had to shut down the phone lines. We've also emailed Tony Blair to within an inch of his patience. A certain other world leader has been getting off easy in my book. No more! It's time to put the pressure on George.

First, from the Washington Post:

On the question of Africa right now, the Bush administration is up against Nelson Mandela, Tony Blair and the rock star-industrial complex, not to mention Sun Microsystems and Pat Robertson. It's one of those occasions when the sole pole in our (supposedly) unipolar world looks pretty much surrounded.

The sainted Mandela, who packs more moral authority than any man alive, visited President Bush last Tuesday to urge further efforts to help Africa. Blair's foreign minister was in town at the same time, reinforcing the same message. Mandela urged Bush to launch a new Africa initiative, perhaps around the time of the United Nations summit in September. For the Brits, the forcing event is July's Group of Eight summit, which Blair will host in Scotland.

Read the rest of the article High-Profile Help for Africa (registration may be required).

Our friends at One.org are kicking it up a notch too:

Together as ONE, we can let President Bush know Americans support the fight against global AIDS and poverty!

On June ONE, we will launch an unprecedented mobilization of Americans calling on President Bush to deliver a historic deal for the world's poor at the G8 Summit.  If everyone who reads this e-mail encourages just 3 friends to join ONE, we will be well over ONE MILLION strong in time for the G8 Summit. That's ONE million voices united behind ONE message: Make Poverty History!

Make history this summer.  Tell your friends that NOW is the time for action - ask them to join you for the largest-ever movement against global poverty in American history.

So spread the word, cause some grief, and do some good.

UPDATE: Here's a list of regional One.org events.

Bad Policy

Good news, via the Kaiser Foundation:

U.S. Ambassador Randall Tobias, head of the State Department's Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator, has rescinded a CDC document issued last week that would have required not-for-profit groups receiving money through the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to publicly state their opposition to commercial sex work and sex trafficking, according to an HHS spokesperson, the Washington Post reports (Brown, Washington Post, 5/18). Under the Bush administration's policy -- which stems from two 2003 laws involving HIV/AIDS funding and sex trafficking -- both overseas and U.S. HIV/AIDS organizations have to make a written pledge opposing commercial sex work or risk losing federal HIV/AIDS funding, even if the groups' work does not involve commercial sex workers. The Department of Justice initially told the administration that the requirement should be applied to overseas groups only because of constitutional free speech concerns in applying it to U.S. organizations, but DOJ in 2004 reversed itself and said that the administration could apply the rule to U.S. groups (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 2/28). Although multilateral organizations, including the Global Fund and U.N. agencies, are exempt from the requirement, the CDC document would have required the approximately 3,000 groups in 128 countries that receive Global Fund money to publicly oppose commercial sex work and sex trafficking. However, HHS spokesperson Kevin Keane said the document "hadn't been fully reviewed and cleared" and that Tobias ordered the document be removed. "Somebody is ahead of their headlights," Tobias said on Sunday, adding that the policy outlined in the CDC document "is not one I have seen and considered," nor is it "something that I would want to sign off on one way or another."

Reaction
The new policy potentially would have caused "a mixture of fear and resentment in some nations," according to the Post. Many AIDS organizations say that the policy hinders their HIV/AIDS prevention and care activities because it stigmatizes commercial sex workers, a "crucial risk group," the Post reports. A group of organizations -- including CARE, the International Rescue Committee, Save the Children and the International Center for Research on Women -- in February sent a letter to Tobias denouncing the existing policy. Maurice Middleburg, acting president of the international public health organization EngenderHealth, said that groups "ris[k] further stigmatizing a population that is already very difficult to reach" if they sign the pledge. In addition, the Global Fund might have risked losing its U.S. funding if it had refused to enforce the policy. The fund, which has been in operation for four years, so far has committed $3 billion in grants, and one-third of that funding is from the United States (Washington Post, 5/18).