Advocacy Group Urges G7 To Act Against Poverty In Africa

from Playfuls

A non-governmental organization Friday accused finance ministers of the world's leading industrial nations of ignoring the needs of Africa.

The G7 meeting taking place in Essen is "missing a critical opportunity to help Africa break the back of extreme poverty and AIDS," the advocacy group DATA said.

"They should be laying the groundwork for a successful G8 summit in Heiligendamm in June where African economic development is a key theme," said the group supported by Bob Geldof and U2 frontman Bono.

"But the finance ministers are not talking about how to meet Africa's urgent challenges in areas of health and education challenges that G8 governments have promised to fund through increased aid," DATA said in a statement.

DATA's European Director Oliver Buston said, "faced with the challenge of increasing aid to Africa by 25 billion dollars in the next three years, the finance ministers are looking the other way."

Buston urged host Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck to take the lead and persuade his G7 colleagues "to fund proven aid initiatives" such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.

Ministers from the United States, Japan, Germany, Canada, Britain, France and Italy are taking part in the two-day G7 conference that began Friday.

Anti-globalization activists plan to stage a demonstration against the meeting in Essen's town centre on Saturday.