More than 1 billion people watched and heard Saturday’s Live 8 concerts, designed to focus attention on the plight of Africa, the world’s poorest continent.
Now it’s the turn of world’s richest nations to address the problem.
The concerts helped revive international debate about what can be done and also were intended to shine a spotlight on the Group of Eight annual economic summit getting underway in Scotland today, with aid to Africa at the top of the agenda.
The leaders of the world’s most economically powerful nations are right to focus their attention on a continent where people are poorer today than they were three decades ago, where millions of children don’t go to school, where basic services are lacking, many governments are corrupt and diseases sap the strength of entire regions.
Going into the three-day summit, the leaders have agreed to erase some $40 billion in debt owed by the world’s 18 poorest countries – 14 in Africa – to international lending institutions. That’s a good first step. But much more is needed, including perhaps phasing out agricultural and other trade subsidies so poor countries can gain access to lucrative markets and better their economies.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the host of this year’s summit, has called Africa’s condition “a scar on the conscience of the world” and is calling on wealthy nations to double their assistance from $25 billion a year to $50 billion by 2010.
It will take vision and compassion for President Bush and the other world leaders to meet the challenge. The U.S. continues to devote fewer resources than other nations – 0.16 percent of this country’s gross national income – to spending on all foreign aid. The U.S. should consider increasing it to 0.7 percent, as Britain, Italy, France and Germany have promised to do.
To his credit, Bush has been more attentive to the problems of Africa than his recent predecessors, improving spending on HIV/AIDS programs and creating the Millennium Challenge Account to reward Africa’s best-governed countries. Last week he promised more money to fight malaria, train teachers and help girls attend school. Bush said he would ask Congress to double U.S. support for Africa from $4.3 billion in 2004 to $8.6 billion by 2010. But critics complain that Bush’s figures include money previously committed, including emergency food aid.
America, the world’s richest country, has an opportunity to help Africa take a major step toward ending its history of poverty and conflict. It should not hold back.
Doing so would be more than humanitarianism. As former South African Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu said, “Failed countries and regions are breeding grounds for disaffection and violence.”
