Skip to main content

Pelosi Statement on G-8 Meeting Next Week, Live 8 Concerts Tomorrow

July 1, 2005

Pelosi Statement on G-8 Meeting Next Week, Live 8 Concerts Tomorrow

Friday, July 1, 2005

Contact: Brendan Daly/Jennifer Crider, 202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. â€" House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on the Group of Eight (G-8) major industrial nations that will convene in Scotland next week to discuss the world’s most pressing issues. The top agenda will be a diplomatic effort to eradicate extreme poverty in sub-Saharan Africa.

â€Å"The World Bank estimates that 20 percent of the world’s population lives in extreme poverty - when people cannot meet basic needs for survival, including the lack of food, sanitation, and shelter.

â€Å"We have an opportunity to significantly reduce extreme poverty in the developing world in the coming years. There is a movement afoot. The wealthiest nations in the world such as Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and others have committed to increase assistance to poor countries to 0.7 percent of their gross domestic product by 2015. Japan has promised to double assistance to the world’s poorest in three years.

â€Å"Faith and aid organizations are promoting a ‘Marshall Plan’ for Africa and mobilizing people all over the world to the cause. This weekend will feature the ‘Live 8 - Making Poverty History’ concerts featuring some of the biggest musical acts in the world. The concert will be performed in 10 cities on four continents and it will be the largest collective concert in history.

â€Å"The purpose of the concerts is to persuade G-8 leaders to do more to ease poverty and raise awareness of Africa’s humanitarian crisis. I commend the organizers of this concert, the artists who are performing, and the activists who labor every day to advance the cause of the poorest people on the face of the Earth. They are not alone. In particular, Bono and Bob Geldof are leading the way by inspiring our youth and furthering public awareness.

â€Å"There is a plan behind their action. The United Nations Millennium Project has issued a comprehensive strategy to cut world poverty by half over the next 10 years. This bold ambition can be achieved if the international community works together. There is no doubt it will require substantial leadership and investment.

â€Å"Yesterday, under pressure from the international community, President Bush announced funding to combat malaria and to double U.S. assistance to Africa over five years. The announcement is a step in the right direction, but it falls short of the standard set by the international community at the G-8 Summit. While the President claims to have tripled aid to Africa, the actual numbers reveal that aid to Africa has not even doubled. Assistance to Africa increased 56 percent in real dollars from about $2.2 billion in 2000 to $3.4 billion in 2004. Much of that increase is based on emergency assistance, which is needed but is not the official development assistance that promotes sustainable development.

â€Å"The G-8 Summit is an opportunity for President Bush to demonstrate the generosity of the American people. I hope that he will join with our allies and support a ‘Marshall Plan’ for Africa. Now is a critical time to take advantage of this historic opportunity.”