by Paul Skippen and Geoff Wallace
G8 Research Group
Please see the June 24-26 Bulletin for more in depth news on the first day of the summit, including reports on the Middle East crisis, the Russian disarmament deal, and the global economy. This bulletin covers the second day of the summit and its immediate aftermath. See also: summit-related documents and more comprehensive analysis.
Despite fears that discussions on Africa would be marginalized by recent events surrounding the Middle East and the rash of corporate scandals in the US, the G8 leaders devoted the second day of the Kananaskis Summit to talks on the beleaguered continent. After meeting with five of the primary proponents of the African-led NEPAD, the G8 responded in a 19-page document with its own Africa Action Plan.
Some aspects of the plan include:
- The provision of technical and financial assistance to regional and sub-regional organizations in order to develop the capability to undertake UN-sanctioned peace operations by 2010. The G8 also pledged to support efforts to resolve conflicts in Sudan and Congo, as well as to ensure peace in Angola, Sierra Leone, and the Great Lakes Region. These include efforts to lessen the flow of illegal arms into the continent and to progress toward the elimination of anti-personnel land mines.
- The promise of an extra $1billion to meet the shortfall in the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative.
- The leaders committed themselves to improve market access for African products by 2005 as part of a wider effort to combat protectionism in order to ensure a successful conclusion of the WTO's Doha trade talks by the beginning of the same year.
- A qualified agreement between the members whereby "half or more of our new development assistance could be directed to African nations that govern justly, invest in their own people and promote economic freedom..."
The compromise on the allocation of half of the $12 billion in new aid promised at the Monterrey Summit earlier this year represented a partial failure for Jean Chretien of Canada and Tony Blair from the UK. The two prime ministers had sought a firm commitment, but met strong opposition from the US and Japan who preferred to allow each country to decide where to allocate new assistance; though US National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice did declare that if African countries meet the G8 conditions, they will receive at least half of the US's future aid increases. The two leaders have attempted to lead the way by unilateral actions, such as Blair's promise to increase British aid to Africa by 60% to £1 billion a year within four years, and Chretien's plan to eliminate trade barriers on most goods from the world's 48 poorest countries, 34 of which are in Africa.
While Blair called the result "a real significant step forward", other opinions were more mixed. In a statement by the African leaders attending the summit, they welcomed the initial G8 response, but noted that these actions would need to be upgraded in the future if the goals of NEPAD are to be met. In less diplomatic tones the UK-based aid agency Oxfam condemned the proposed $6 billion in aid as "peanuts," while Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon, whose organization includes 17 African countries, described the G8's approach to Africa as "too little, too late", insisting that large scale reform must also take place in the G8's own policies, such as agricultural subsidies. The possible $6 billion is well below the $25-30 billion the UN estimates is required for the continent to reach the Millennium Declaration's International Development Goals by 2015.
Indeed, much of the attention of critics was devoted to what the Action Plan was missing. Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano believed NEPAD could deliver benefits, but criticized high agricultural subsidies in the West, an issue that resulted in no firm commitments by the G8 members.
Stephen Lewis, the United Nations Special Advisor on Aids, who also spoke at an alternative summit before the G8, characterized the G8 Africa Action Plan as "profoundly disappointing." He criticized the substitution of principles for concrete funds, particularly around the issue of AIDS which received no aid directly from the members' commitments. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria has garnered only 7% of its goal of US$10 billion. However, the G8 did promise to eliminate polio in Africa by 2005.
Looking forward, France, the host of next year's G8 summit, has pledged to maintain Africa as a top priority during future talks. In addition, from July 8-10 the Heads of State Summit of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) will take place in Durban, South Africa. The members are expected to endorse the G8's Action Plan for Africa - though countries such as Zimbabwe and Lybia are expected to oppose it - as well as to begin developing the African Peer Review Mechanism, which will determine the allocation of funds to African countries depending on the level of governance. The meeting will also formally launch the African Union, approving protocols for the creation of an Assembly of Heads of State, the Council of Ministers, the Permanent Representatives and the Commission/Secretariat.
Sources: AP, Business Day, CP, G8 Africa Action Plan, Globe & Mail, The Nation, Reuters
A substantial part of the estimated $300 million summit bill was due to extra security costs due to last year's terrorist attacks and plans to avoid the riots that plagued the previous summit in Genoa, Italy. The resort in Kananaskis where the leaders met was surrounded by a 6.5 kilometre security perimeter along with a 150 kilometre no-fly zone. Three aircraft accidentally entered the restricted airspace during the summit and were quickly escorted away.
On the ground in Calgary, the nearest major city to Kananaskis, protests were much more peaceful than those in Genoa which resulted in the death of one youth. A security force of over 5,000 soldiers and police were on hand, but protesters met teams of bicycle cops instead of police clad in full riot gear as had become the tradition at many international meetings. More heavily armed forces where kept nearby in case violence broke out. However, both sides generally showed restraint as protestors preferred theatrics and humour to violence, while police allowed some demonstrators to play a game of soccer in the street and even strip naked in front of a GAP store.
The courtroom and jails, which had been cleared to make room for expected protestors, sat largely empty after only three people were arrested. Two Americans were charged for spray-painting railway cars and a union postal worker was arrested for obstructing a police officer at a security checkpoint near Kananaskis. The Take the Capital demonstrations in Ottawa were also fairly peaceful with only two people arrested. RCMP Chief, Lloyd Hickman, believed the staging of the summit in a remote area lessened the likelihood of violence and he expected the model to be copied at future G8 summits and other international meetings.
Yet the avoidance of holding the summit in a major city was not the only departure made by the Canadian hosts. Each country was also limited to a delegation of no more than 35 people. The numbers were tiny compared to last year's summit in Genoa where the US brought 1,000 delegates and Japan 800.
The ideas were shared by several of the G8 leaders as well. Against tradition, French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac did not announce the location of next year's summit, but he did want to repeat Canada's accomplishment "in providing a climate where people can exchange views in peace and tranquillity." The difficulty in finding a similarly remote site to Kananaskis in France is perhaps one reason for the delay. The French leader did however announce that the summit would take place in early June, immediately after the EU-Russia meeting on May 31 in Saint Petersburg. At the end of the summit Chirac also dispelled rumours around a proposal floated by France earlier in the summit to hold a virtual summit through videoconferencing instead of meeting face-to-face.
Sources: AFX, AP, Calgary Herald, CP, Reuters
- After the summit the G8's Digital Opportunity Task Force announced the creation of the DOT Force Entrepreneurial Network (DFEN). The network will provide up to CND$2 million to entrepreneurs in the developing world for projects seeking to use information and communication technologies. With initial funding of $10 million from the Canadian government, DFEN's starting focus will be to narrow the "digital divide" in Africa.
- On Friday, with most of the West Banks major cities and towns under Israeli control, and the Palestinian Authority's headquarters in Hebron under siege, the Palestinian leadership appealed to the G8 countries to approve a mission of observers to the Middle East to help implement a cease-fire.
- At the summit the G8 leaders pledged to work towards a solution to global warming, which has remained an issue of tension between the EU and the US, especially in March when Bush announced his country's withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol. At the beginning of June Japan ratified the protocol.
- The International Criminal Court (ICC) is facing major challenges even as it was formally established on Monday. At the centre of the controversy is the US's threat to pull out of the Bosnia peacekeeping mission by Wednesday unless its soldiers are given immunity from prosecution under the ICC. Despite allied assurances to the contrary, the US fears that its citizens could be targeted for prosecution by certain countries for political purposes. The US decision could possibly threaten the other 14 UN peacekeeping missions taking place around the world as well.
 
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