Rock stars to put focus on Africa when Live 8 meets G8

"It was certainly seen as meaningful at the time," Gerry Barr, president of the Canadian Council on International Co-operation, told CTV.ca. "It put Africa on the agenda in a way which had not been previously true."

However,�the 2002�efforts were largely seen as insufficient. Chretien's call for $6 billion US per year in additional aid for Africa was watered down.

And even at $6 billion, the request was relatively modest. Some observers said an investment of $25 to $35 billion US was needed to meet the UN's 2000 plan to cut extreme poverty in half by 2015 (known as the Millennium Development Goals).

And African leaders had sought $64 billion US for the New Partnership for Economic Development (NEPAD).

The G8 leaders�agreed to $1 billion in debt relief for the poorest countries -- or about one dollar in relief for every $300 in debt.

At the next two G8 summits, while there was discussion of African issues, no big bucks were committed.

Debt fight continued

An�international campaign by�development activists�-- aided by celebrities like U2 frontman Bono and Sir Bob Geldof of Live Aid fame -- continued to hammer away at the issue of�African poverty and debt.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Tony Blair planned ahead for this year's G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland. He wanted to focus on Africa and climate change.�In February 2004, he announced the creation of the Commission on Africa, which included federal Finance Minister Ralph Goodale as a member.

That commission's report in April got a good response.

"I think it's a significant step beyond NEPAD," Barr said. "It served to put the burners on ... and really reheat the issue of African development."

Barr sees�a direct line between the Kananaskis summit's focus on Africa and the upcoming Gleneagles meeting.

On June 11, the G8 finance ministers�met in�London and agreed�to write off $40 billion US in debt for the 18 of the world's most indebted poor nations, 14 of which are in Africa. Some of those countries were spending one-third of their national budgets on paying interest on those debts -- money which could go to primary health care or education.

While activists applauded the June 11 announcement, they noted that more than 40 other countries -- ranging from Nigeria to India and Indonesia -- could benefit from debt cancellation, but they weren't included.

However, Barr said the announcement, while modest, was a step forward. He�noted that in 2002, "debt relief was treated in a derisory way."

Besides cancelling the debt, the Make Poverty History campaign (Barr's group is the Canadian co-sponsor; Make Poverty History is part of the 70-country Global Call to Action Against Poverty) wants aid increased and improved. Some of the aid goals are:

Help end extreme poverty and hunger
Enable every child to attend elementary school
Reduce child mortality rates
Improve maternal health
Create decent jobs
Begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS.

The campaign also seeks fairer trade between poor countries and wealthy ones.

"More aid, by itself ...�may actually be a bad idea," Barr said. "It needs to be in combination with those other things (fairer trade, debt cancellation)."

To help push those goals, Geldof -- who organized Live Aid in 1985 -- has organized the Live 8 concerts, to be held on July 2. At least five concerts will be held, with one to be added in Canada, to promote awareness of this anti-poverty initiative.

In addition, Geldof has called for one million people to march to Edinburgh where a rally and final concert will happen on July 6 -- the day the summit starts in Gleneagles.

On July 8, when eight of�the world's most powerful leaders -- including Prime Minister Paul Martin -- issue their final statement from the summit, those advocates and citizens pushing for action on poverty will find out if their rock and roll call was loud enough.