"Let Them Eat Cake..." -- by Elaine Thomas

It seems the biggest story coming out of this month's G-8 Summit on Hokkaido in Japan is the uproar over the 18-course banquet on the first night of the event and the 6-course lunch that preceded it. Sea urchin and tuna, milk-fed lamb and caviar, all accompanied by fine wines from around the world. And this at a summit at which the main topic is the world food shortage? You can’t make this stuff up.

Now there are those who say that it is perfectly alright for a host country to display its hospitality by preparing a feast and that it would be an insult to do otherwise. I suppose this is true. Didn’t Abraham prepare a fine young calf for the visitors at Mamre and wasn’t the prodigal son welcomed home with a fatted calf? And what does it matter what they eat when they’re making sure that they educate children with a nifty website devoted to the summit and the issues being addressed. Where else can you find information about the wonders of Hokkaido cuisine juxtaposed with a story on miracle rice to increase Africa’s rice yields? (Pardon my sarcasm.)

It seems to me that the real story is the dismal failure of the G-8 to live up to its promises to those in extreme poverty. At Gleneagles in 2005, they promised to double aid to Africa by 2010. To date, they’ve only hit 14% of that goal. Nicholas Kristof writes of the blatant disregard they’ve shown for the Darfur genocide. The Bush administration trumpets the accord reached on global warming even though the standards would not be as stringent as those under the Kyoto Protocol.

I’m all for people of good will gathering around a table to make decisions about monumental issues. It’s certainly better than not speaking to each other. But when, oh when, will it actually mean something for those in the world who stand to benefit most from the conversations? The wealth of the countries represented at the G-8 is sufficient to end extreme poverty in our time. Where is the will to use that wealth?

Editor's Note: To read an excellent, if somewhat depressing, summary of the G-8 summer in terms of the MDGs, go to "2008 G8 Japan Series" on the ONE Campaign Blog.

Elaine Thomas is a member of St. James in Lancaster, PA where she is a member of the Peace and Justice and Stewardship Committees. She is also the EGR and ERD Coordinator for the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania. Elaine works for Episcopal Community Services in Philadelphia, a social service agency whose mission is to help individuals and families with multiple needs overcome the impact of poverty.

Bono says G-8 Behind on Aid to Africa

From the Associated Press:

BERLIN -- The world's biggest industrial countries are failing to keep up with financial promises they made to Africa, rocker-activist Bono said Tuesday, calling a new progress report "a cold shower" for the Group of Eight.

G-8 members in 2004-2006 contributed less than half the amount needed to make good on promises to double Africa aid to $50 billion by 2010, according to a report released by DATA _ Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa _ an advocacy group founded by Bono, the 47-year-old frontman for Irish band U2.

"The G-8 are sleepwalking into a crisis of credibility. I know the DATA report will feel like a cold shower, but I hope it will wake us all up," he said.

Bono is urging German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who chairs a G-8 summit in Germany next month, to ensure that members contribute what they said they would.

The report shows the G-8 increased aid by $2.3 billion but says they need to increase aid by an additional $3.1 billion to substantially help the people of Africa.

"These statistics are not just numbers on a page," Bono said. "They are people begging for their lives, for two pills a day, a mother begging to immunize her children, a child begging not to become a mother at the age of 12."

Read the rest here.

Download the Data2007 report here.

Download/stream a podcast of Bono talking with CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta about Bono's love for music and "passion to save the world."

Sign Avaaz/Global Call to Action Against Poverty's petition to G8 finance ministers

This Friday, the finance ministers of the world's richest countries meet to plan the G8 summit in Germany. Two years ago, they pledged to double aid to Africa--but despite their promises, aid from the G8 has actually gone down, and 30,000 children every day are still dying preventable deaths.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has signed on to a letter organised by activist website Avaaz.org and the Global Call to Action Against Poverty. The letter will be featured in big ads in the Financial Times and German press on Friday morning, so that the finance ministers are reminded of their promises before they meet.

The text of the letter is below. Click here to go to avaaz.org and sign it yourself.

Together you represent the world’s economic powerhouses. We write to ask that when you meet in Potsdam Germany this May, you also strive to represent the millions of people whose lives are blighted by extreme poverty. Poverty can be overcome, in part through more and better aid, and we urge you to make good your longstanding commitments to provide 0.7% of national income in effective aid, and to commit to binding timetables to reach aid targets. We also urge you to implement innovative finance mechanisms as a key source of much needed finance for development.

Aid is not a panacea. The aid that is given must be predictable, untied and coordinated. Harmful conditions can undermine the return on investment and aid will not deliver maximum benefit without reform of world trade rules, more debt cancellation and improved governance in the recipient countries.

But economic history shows us what aid can achieve. Marshall Plan aid from the US kick-started the rebuilding of a Europe shattered by war and delivered real benefits to the US in terms of new markets for its goods. Aid to East Asia helped catalyse the economic miracles that have lifted millions of people out of poverty. Today many African governments are using aid to underwrite growth and provide essential schools, health services and water supplies for their people. The poorest countries in the world need you to honour these aid pledges if they are to meet the Millennium Development Goals and end poverty.

Through their unprecedented support for the international movement against poverty, taxpayers have already given you permission to spend their money saving lives. Please seize that chance tomorrow/today.

Keep your promises to end poverty!