"civil G8 better in moscow than in bonn"

I am telling you this quote is true! I participated in the Civil G8 dialogue last week in Bonn and it wasn't only me who felt a bit irritated by this event and so a fellow frustrated foreign participant came up with the conclusion that "the Civil G8 in Moscow was better than the one in Bonn". As I did not participate in Moscow I cannot provide a comparative analysis but can only share what caused my irritation regarding process and content.

If you have the chance to put 300 civil society representatives into a room with the G8 sherpas discussing the G8 agenda, how many of them do you think are men? Yes, plenty of them - old and wise they may be but not wise enough to be more democratic or transparent or gender balanced than any of the institutions they are criticising.

If you are about to discuss the G8 agenda entitled "growth and responsibility" with section 1 focusing on investment, innovation and sustainability and section 2 focusing on Africa's growth and responsibility linked to good governance, sustainable investment, peace and security and the fight against HIV/AIDS, how much "air-time" and African representative would you then expect in comparison to climate change as sub-theme of section 1. Yes, plenty of airtime should be devoted to the ever marginalised continent but the wise and old men put Africa to the margin of the agenda.

The Civil G8 dialogue was simply not much of dialogue - not only because the representative of the industry (note industry as part of civil society!?) left before the round table discussion finished - not only because government representatives sticked to the very same formula and phrases despite listening (?!) to many concerns put forward - also because the representative of the Italian NGO platform besides being invited to speak at the roundtable did not get the chance at all to speak before the facilitator closed the session.

Content-wise I am best sticking to my area of expertise - we got some good sound bites on HIV/AIDS but don't expect much more than sound bites and for sure do not expect that the G8 government will keep its promises to come "as close as possible to universal access to treatment for all those who need it by 2010" besides repeated prayers by German government officials to ensure exactly this. It doesn't go any further than "we don't forget about past promises" but there is no single indicator of G8 governments coming up with a funding plan on when the promised money will actually be paied. This in fact might be the very reason why "HIV must always be kept on the agenda" - rightly & unfortunately so, as currently G8 government representatives are tiring us with rethoric but no action. I am sure many of the 40 million HIV positive people would happily be moving on and getting onto ARV (anti-retroviral) treatment. As the German government representative insisted on local activities being the driving force in fighting the pandemic he may want to look at the link below to see what local activities in countries across the world did look like last year during the Global Week of Action Against AIDS: http://www.ungass.org/index.php/en/ungass/archives/global_aids_week_of_action/recap_gwa2006

It will happen again, kickstarting May 20th and at the G8 summit two weeks later it is time for governments to honour these fascinating local activities & demands, this energy and hope. The world can't wait http://www.yourvoiceagainstpoverty.org.uk/

April's fool

The DAC figures that have been released last week show that all G8 countries but UK and Germany are failing to deliver promised aid to poor countries in the year post the Gleneagles summit. It seems like a late April's fool story that after all the fuss around the 2005 summit rich countries can just get away with decreasing their aid but crying out loud on their commitment to and partnership with Africa.
In comparison to 2005, it is pretty calm in Germany with regard to the G8. Slowly it seems journalists are picking it up and government...? Well, Africa is on the agenda but what more can I say - Wiezoreck-Zeul is committed for sure. If the 1999 G8 summit in Cologne was about debt, 2007 will be about financing for HIV/AIDS, she said in a recent meeting with NGO representatives. It would be a great success for all of us if a universal funding plan for HIV/AIDS would become her legacy and the legacy of this year's summit. But more work and persuasion is needed directed at the Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck. He might be a Social Democrat on paper but we are yet awaiting a true indicator for an uptake of social issues in his agenda. In a video message to Steinbrueck Inviolata Mmbwavi, an HIV positive woman who coordinates NEPHAK (the National Empowerment Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Kenya) supports ActionAid effort to persuade the Finance Minister on this matter. As much as Inviolata shares Germany’s conviction that Africa’s future rests on revitalizing economic growth, she also knows from experience that this is unachievable unless access to treatment and support becomes a reality for the 25 million Africans living with HIV/AIDS.