G8 G20 Summits 2010
“There is an urgent need for decisive action to free humankind from hunger and poverty. .... We therefore agree to act with the scale and urgency needed to achieve sustainable global food security...”
L’Aquila Joint Statement on Global Food Security, 2009
Last year, as the number of hungry people in the world topped one billion, G8 leaders made a bold pledge of US $22 billion to support developing country farmers and fight hunger.
With one in three of the world’s children chronically malnourished, never before has it been more urgent or more necessary for world leaders to deliver a rescue plan on hunger.
However, one year on, the details of the US $22 billion L’Aquila initiatives remain shrouded in mystery.
At their 2010 summit, the G8 leaders’ credibility is on the line. It is vital they prove they can deliver on the commitments they have made to the world’s poor and which must still be accounted for.
G8 and G20 2010: broken promises mean the poor will suffer the most
Behind the rhetoric of their final communiqué is the clear that the G20 have offered no solid solutions to address a still vulnerable global economy and it is the world's poorest who are going to suffer the most.
G8 disapoint with weak initiative on maternal and child health
This year's G8 summit ended with the announcement of of the Muskoka initiative on maternal and child health. US$ 5 billion dollars have been promised over the next five years, (with another US $2.3 billion committed from other donors and foundations). The rhetoric may be fine but the figures are less than half what was hoped for.
The G8: how far they have delivered on past aid promises
At their 2010 summit, the G8 leaders’ credibility is on the line. In the midst of announcing yet more new initiatives, it is vital they prove they can deliver on previous commitments.
G8 must not count patrol ships and flu controls as aid to fight hunger
Despite promises at last year’s G8 to mount ‘decisive action to free the world from hunger’, the G8 has been frittering desperately needed money to fight hunger on dubious projects that include bird flu control, patrol boats in Nicaragua and biofuels production in South Africa.
