[Title] Progress Report by the G8 Africa Personal Representatives (APRs) on implementation of the Africa Action Plan (G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit)

1. Overview

- The G8 has long been committed to Africa's development. One of the main agenda items of the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit is "Development and Africa", under which the G8 will discuss how the G8 can best support Africa-led development efforts. The results of the discussion among the G8 should give a new impetus to our G8-Africa partnership and be a good basis for G8 input into this year's UN high level meeting on Millennium Development Goals in September, the Accra Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in September, and the Doha Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development in November/December 2008.

- Although there remain challenges, especially in achieving the MDGs, Africa as a whole has made progress in democratic governance and socio-economic development over the past few years. The continent's recent growth performance has been quite impressive, improving from less than 3 per cent in 1999 to 5.8 per cent in 2007. These figures are higher than the world average, yet strongly linked to the global trend of rising prices for primary goods and thus subject to price volatility. Under the leadership of the African Union (AU), regional cooperation and integration are deepening and a number of Africa's own initiatives including the Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) are accelerating Africa's political and economic transformations. If Africa maintains this momentum, the continent has the potential to make irreversible progress towards peace, stability and prosperity.

- The G8 and other donors are delivering on the ODA pledges to Africa and other developing countries made at Gleneagles in 2005. Of the $25 billion in additional aid projected to accrue to Africa by 2010 as a result of these commitments, more than $12 billion of additional aid has been delivered by the DAC donors since 2004. This indicates substantial progress. We the APRs highlight the ODA commitments made at Gleneagles, in particular with regard to doubling aid for Africa by 2010.

- At the International Development Association (IDA) 15 Replenishment Meeting in December 2007 in Berlin, donor countries, including the G8, pledged a record US$ 25.1 billion for the three-year IDA period. The total IDA 15 envelope amounts to US$ 41.6 billion. In addition, the donor countries, including the G8, agreed at the

11th Replenishment of the African Development Fund (AfDF) in December 2007 in London that the total resources available to the AfDF reach US$ 8.9 billion, a record level of support.

- We are deeply concerned that steep rise in global food prices is threatening Africa's progress and achievement of MDGs and food security. We are convinced that the international community needs a fully coordinated response to address urgent needs of the most vulnerable people and welcome the provision of emergency food aid. We also recognize the need to take a wide range of short-, mid- and long-term measures to tackle the issue of food security. In this regard, the G8 will increase aid in the agricultural sector to increase food production and agricultural productivity.

- We welcome the contribution of a number of recent important high-level events, in particular the second EU-Africa Summit in Lisbon in December 2007 and the adoption there of an ambitious Joint Africa-EU Strategy and Action Plan, and the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV) in Yokohama in May 2008 with the Yokohama Declaration, the forward-looking and action-oriented Yokohama Action Plan that introduced a range of initiatives under each priority area, and establishment of a TICAD Follow-Up Mechanism to ensure regular monitoring of the implementation process in response to the request of African leaders.

- The 10th APF held in Tokyo on 7-8 April offered a good opportunity to discuss how to take forward cooperation between Africa and its development partners on issues relating to Environmental and climate change and Boosting economic growth and poverty reduction as well as to be informed of the progress of the AU/NEPAD Africa Action Plan.

- This report sets out our assessment of where progress has been made over the past years and where further efforts are needed, based on the Africa Action Plan adopted at the G8 Kananaskis Summit in 2002.

2. Boosting Economic Growth

As the recent advances in Africa demonstrate, economic growth should be at the heart of national development and poverty reduction strategies and is critical to achieving the MDGs. The G8 supports the development of sound countries' and regional strategies for economic growth and poverty eradication and works with African countries to secure transparent and accountable results from development programs. The G8 will continue to encourage private sector led-growth and can serve as a catalyst to the efforts made by the other development players including the World Bank and the African Development Bank at the continental, regional and national level.

Fostering Trade, Investment, Economic Growth, and Sustainable Development

- Reducing and eliminating barriers to trade and investment and developing business environments that encourage domestic and foreign investment and effectively mobilize domestic capital are key elements in ensuring the success of growth strategies. Many African countries have enjoyed an average annual economic growth of 5% or more, and the volume of trade between the G8 and Africa as well as foreign direct investment in the continent has also been steadily increasing since 2000. Trade within the African region, which is essential to expand international trade is also making steady progress. Since 2000, the volume of trade between Africa and merging economies has also been rapidly increasing.

- The G8 will continue to advance a number of initiatives to improve the investment climate and strengthening financial markets in Africa, such as the NEPAD-OECD Africa Investment Initiative, Enhanced Private Sector Assistance (EPSA) for Africa, the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund and the Investment Climate Facility (ICF) and the Partnership for Making Finance Work for Africa (MFW4A).

- Infrastructure development, especially, implementation of region-wide infrastructure development focused on power sector investments, integrated power networks, roads as well as water resources management based on Africa's own initiatives, is extremely important for growth in Africa, particularly for the trade and investment environments. The 4th Infrastructure Consortium for Africa (ICA) meeting held in Japan in March 2008 provided an important opportunity for the international community, including the G8, to coordinate their efforts toward region-wide infrastructure development in Africa. The commitments to the infrastructure sector in Africa by ICA members had reached over $10bn in 2007, up from $7.7bn in 2006. The G8 will continue to support the ICA and is also supporting the Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility, which is administered by the African Development Bank.

- The G8 is implementing market access improvement measures that were agreed upon at the Hong Kong ministerial conference of the WTO, such as duty free and quota free market access for products originating from LDCs, and simple and transparent rules of origin that contribute to facilitating trade and development.

- Recognizing the need to mainstream the Aid for Trade (AfT) into development policies and strategies such as the PRSP of each African country, the G8 has agreed to further strengthen their efforts on AfT, focusing more on capacity building and infrastructure at the continental, regional and country levels.

- The G8 will continue to work with bilateral and multilateral donors to make collective efforts to mobilize public and private resources to promote regional infrastructure development, including both physical infrastructure and institutional capacity for its maintenance and operation. The G8 will continue to work for an enhanced partnership with the private sector in contributing to economic growth in Africa, including through better investment climate, AfT and supports to local SMEs. The G8 will also continue to make efforts to conclude the Doha Round successfully by the end of this year.

Implementing Debt Relief

- International efforts to assist Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs) in clearing their arrears towards the international financial institutions and the provision of HIPC debt relief have proven to be of crucial importance in creating much needed fiscal space in the African HIPCs, allowing them to step up poverty-reducing expenditure and investment. Debt relief has also helped post-conflict countries, such as Liberia, to normalize their financial relationships with the international community.

- The Enhanced HIPC Initiative was agreed upon in June 1999 at the Cologne Summit. The G8 continues to reschedule or cancel 100% of ODA debts and provide at least 90% cancellation of non-ODA debts to countries reaching the HIPC completion point. To today, 33 countries, 27 of them located in Sub-Saharan Africa, have been qualified for HIPC debt relief. 23 countries (19 in Sub-Saharan Africa) have already benefited from comprehensive debt relief after reaching the HIPC completion point.

- Moreover, in 2005, the G8 initiated the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI), under which the remaining multilateral debts of HIPC countries towards the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the International Development Association (IDA), and the African Development Fund (AfDF) are being cancelled, after the countries have reached HIPC completion point.

- G8 partners will continue to support African countries in their efforts to achieve and maintain debt sustainability, and in developing prudent debt strategies and improving their capacities in the area of debt management.

Increasing Agricultural Productivity

- The G8 recognizes that agriculture is one of the key sectors for African development and acknowledges its particular importance for poverty reduction, food security and economic growth. African partners have committed to allocate at least 10% of public expenditure on agriculture and rural development.

- The G8 supports the AU/NEPAD Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) as a framework to increase agricultural growth and productivity, and to reduce food insecurity and to promote development. There has been considerable progress in the CAADP implementation over the past year: 15 countries are engaged in developing detailed policy and integrated investment plans (CAADP Compacts); a World Bank-managed multi-donor trust fund is being established; a Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Management System is guiding evidence-based investment decisions; strategic programs are being designed and implemented, and a CAADP partners platform, which provides a mechanism for peer review, is meeting regularly. The G8 is supporting regional centers of excellence to promote agricultural research in Africa.

- It is key to support in particular capacity development for Regional Economic Communities in charge of the facilitation and implementation of the CAADP agenda, to work effectively with partners, and to foster roundtables and country compacts on the national level. To increase agricultural productivity, in addition to Africa's efforts, enhanced international support and increased efforts to align donor policies in this critical sector is required. Comprehensive supports are needed for improved marketing systems, especially alleviating bottlenecks in transportation, distribution and supply-chain and developing key trade and transport corridors, enhanced productivity and increased quality, rural infrastructure, development of efficient irrigation systems, post-harvest processing and distribution chains, deployment of existing and new agricultural technology, research and extension/delivery systems.

3. Strengthening Support for the Consolidation of Peace and for Democratization

Promoting Peace and Security

- The consolidation of peace and democratization are making progress on the African continent. However violent conflicts continue in a limited number of regions, for example Darfur in Sudan, its surrounding areas and Somalia. The UN Peacebuilding Commission, which Japan currently chairs, has made early progress towards building sustainable peace in post-conflict countries such as Burundi, Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau. In line with the UN Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW), several African countries have developed National Action Plan and strengthened regional cooperation on SALW.

- The AU is playing an important role in peace and security in Africa. The G8 supports the efforts of the AU, sub-regional organizations such as ECOWAS and African countries to put together an African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA). The initiative to establish an African Standby Force by 2010 is challenging, however we are encouraged by the AU initiative to implement a continental training plan to validate the concept with a major training exercise in 2010 and to review the structure of the Peace Support Operations Division (PSOD) with a view to soon filling staff positions. The launch of the joint AU/UN Hybrid Force (UNAMID) deployed in Darfur marks an important step in linking African and international efforts in securing and consolidating peace in Africa. It has also underlined the need for greater support in the areas of equipment, maintenance, and other logistical issues. It is also recognized that major support from the international community, including the UN, is needed to address the Somali crisis.

- Strengthening the peacekeeping capabilities of Africa is crucial for the consolidation of peace. The G8 has trained and equipped more than 50,000 peacekeeping troops and remains committed to train and equip 75,000 peacekeeping troops worldwide by 2010 and provide assistance for transport and logistics support, increase global stability police capabilities, and increase civilian capabilities for peace operations and post-conflict reconstruction. To this end, based on a close dialogue with African partners, the G8 is supporting peacekeeping operation training centers in Africa, such as the Kofi Annan International Peace Training Center and the Ecole du Maintien de La Paix in Bamako. In addition, we will examine possible means through which to develop in the long term, sustainable and flexible funding mechanisms for African led peacekeeping efforts so that African partners can also tackle existing and new challenges at the pre- and post-conflict stage. Seamless support throughout the conflict cycle is essential for the consolidation of peace in Africa in order to avoid the resumption of violent conflict once they have been successfully brought under control.

- It is necessary to speed up the development and operationalization of the APSA including the Continental Early Warning System, the Panel of the Wise, and the Military Staff Committee. The G8 and other donors, including UN organizations, are discussing how to better coordinate donor efforts and to further support the APSA at the Africa Clearinghouse set up at the Sea Island Summit. At the Africa Clearing House (ACH) meeting which was held in Tokyo April 23-24, 2008 with welcome participation of the AU for the first time, partners welcomed the development by the AU of a continental training and implementation plan for the ASF. The results of the ACH was{sic} re-affirmed at the AU/G8 ++ meeting scheduled in Addis Ababa on 13 June, 2008. In the meantime, the G8 encourages further efficient coordination between the AU, mandated Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and the AU's Member States. Cooperation between African partners and the UN, particularly the Security Council, as well as between the AU and the UN, is also vital in this area.

Strengthening Institutions and Governance

- The G8 is strongly supporting the democratization process through encouraging and promoting elections and democratic governance throughout Africa, while being highly concerned with the severe governance crises in some African countries, notably Zimbabwe. We welcome Africa's own efforts towards democratization, such as the adoption of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, which has now been signed by 17 countries. We encourage and support the ratification of the Charter by African countries. We support continued progress in strengthening observance of human rights on the continent including through the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights which is now operational in its new Arusha base. The G8 recognizes that effective states and better governance are central to Africa's development and to the achievement of the MDGs. Effective states protect people's rights, provide security and ensure that services such as health and education are delivered.

- Currently, 28 countries are participating in the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). Peer reviews of Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa and Algeria have already been completed. The G8 is supporting the APRM process and some members of G8 are also making contributions to the APRM trust fund.

- 16 resource-rich African countries have been accepted as candidates to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). The EITI aims to strengthen governance by improving transparency and hence accountability in the extractive industries (in particular oil, gas, and mining sectors). Many more resource rich countries are in the process of establishing EITI-processes facilitated by the EITI Board and the international Secretariat. Continued support and endorsement of the EITI initiative is critical to ensure good financial governance and combat corruption in Africa. We encourage EITI candidate countries to complete the validation process. Revenues from extraction and processing of resources should be used for economic and social development and for anti-poverty objectives. We encourage all countries, including emerging economies, to engage in and support the EITI, including participation of private sector. Beyond EITI, transparency of expenditure flows should also be enhanced.

- Good governance is a long-term process which has to be endogenous and comprehensive results cannot be achieved in a short time span. Therefore, the G8 should continue to promote good financial governance in Africa and support Africa's own efforts in this field. The G8 Ministers of Finance endorsed "the G8 Action Plan for Good Financial Governance in Africa" at the Finance Ministers Meeting in Potsdam in 2007. In the summit document of Heiligendamm, the G8 Heads of State and Government emphasized their support for the GFG Action Plan. The plan outlines ten areas for action drawing on the principles of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and ongoing initiatives to support the reforms of public finance systems in Africa.

- We highlight the need for all countries to improve governance by tackling corruption. This can be achieved, in particular, by taking specific measures to prevent corruption, criminalize corrupt practices, provide effective law enforcement, and increase international cooperation in recovering assets obtained via corrupt activities.

- The G8 welcomes progress in regional cooperation, such as strengthening of the AU and its institutions, including its Commission and the Pan-African Parliament, as well as the various sub-regional organizations. The G8 will pay close attention to the progress of the full integration of NEPAD into the AU and to the further rationalization in the institutional architecture of RECs. The G8 also welcomes the progress in South-South cooperation, including through cross-border cooperation activities.

4. Support for Achievement of the MDGs (focusing here on gender, health and education)

The G8 welcomes the fact that 21 African countries have ratified the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa.

Further ratification and the implementation of this Protocol are also expected.

At the Heiligendamm Summit the G8 in cooperation with other governments committed to support a gender-sensitive response of the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM). Based on this decision an initiative to integrate gender issues more substantially into the GFATM's policies and operations was presented during the GFATM Second Voluntary Replenishment Conference. At the 16th Board meeting of the GFATM in November 2007 a decision was made to bring this initiative forward and integrate gender equality into the structures and the operations of the GFATM.

Expanding Knowledge: Improving and Promoting Education and Expanding Digital Opportunities

- In recent years the pace of progress towards improved school enrolment ratios in the Sub-Saharan Africa region has been encouraging. Free primary education is one of the important tools for bringing millions of children into school, including girls, as examples in Kenya, Zambia and Tanzania indicate. But Africa still lags behind compared with other regions. An increased access should be accompanied by the strengthening of the quality of education and be sustainable in terms of overall national budgets of developing countries. Approximately two-thirds of the 25 countries that are not yet on track to achieve the goals of the Educaion{sic} for All (EFA) are located in Sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, the number of school age children is expected to increase by 22% in the next decade.

It is important to improve the quality of education, promote gender equality in education, expand access to education in African countries, promote education in order to foster growth and self-sustainability, and ensure a cross-sectoral approach with other sectors of development.

The G8 is committed to working with partners and other donors to support partner country efforts to ensure every child has access to high quality education, with particular attention to low income countries and fragile states. The G8 will continue to work with partners and other donors to mobilize bilateral and multilateral resources to meet the needs of FTI-endorsed African countries for 2008. The G8 reaffirms the existing commitments made in Dakar in 2000 and Heiligendamm in 2007 that no country seriously committed to EFA will be prevented in meeting EFA goals because of a lack of resources. However, more resources without the capacity to convert financial resources into better learning outcomes will not help African countries achieve the MDGs to achieve universal primary education and to promote gender equality and empower women or the six EFA goals. The absorption capacity of partner countries has to be increased. Capacity development has to be a main focus of FTI.

Improving Health and Confronting HIV/AIDS

- Attention to global health issues is high, and there is significant progress in terms of the flow of funds into programs focused on major infectious diseases. In the fight against HIV/AIDS, access to anti-retroviral therapy continues to grow: More than 2.1 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa were receiving treatment in December 2007, representing coverage of approximately 30% of those in need compared to just 2% in 2003. The HIV/AIDS situation however remains grave. In order to increase the effectiveness of donor activities increased coordination is necessary to work on many challenges in achieving the health-related MDGs by 2015.

- Since the GFATM's Second Voluntary Replenishment Meeting in Berlin last November, more than $10 billion was pledged or projected by public and private donors over the three years from 2008 to 2010. The G8 welcomes this outstanding achievement and calls on all partners to fulfill their pledges. The G8 also welcomes recent increases in bilateral assistance for global health.

- The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that an additional four million health workers are needed worldwide. Based on human security, it is important to train and retain health workers and strengthen health systems with a sustainable approach, aimed at a non-discriminatory access for poor and vulnerable groups, as well as women and children.

5. Addressing Environmental Issues and Climate Change

Improving Water Resource Management

- The year 2008 has been declared the International Year of Sanitation. Its objective is to increase public awareness of sanitation and to mobilize human and financial resources, as well as to indicate a roadmap for the parties concerned. Under this objective, the G8 and other development partners have been taking their own initiatives to further promote public awareness of the importance of sanitation and political commitment to improve access to sanitation.

- Within the framework of the G8, the Action Plan on Water for the international community was adopted at the G8 Evian Summit, mindful that lack of water can undermine human security. Among others, and taking into particular account the transboundary dimensions of Africa's water resources, the Action Plan called for the promotion of good governance of water, optimization of financial resources, and social infrastructure development through the strengthening of cooperation between local government and local communities. In this sector, the G8 supports the AfDB-administered African Water Facility, an initiative led by the African Ministers' Council on Water. The G8 will reinvigorate efforts to implement the Evian G8 Water Action Plan, including through the development of an implementation strategy.

- In Africa, climate change causes a constantly growing pressure on water availability for human life, economic growth and the ecosystems. The maintenance of water access in large parts of the continent requires good water cycle management. The G8 acknowledges the concept of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and the need for progress in developing human resource capacity as central to the sustainable use and management of water resources.

Mitigation of and Adaptation to Climate Change and Energy Access

- The African continent is particularly vulnerable to global-scale climate change whilst having contributed least to the problem. Climate change affects many issues including agricultural productivity, peace and security, development, migration and infrastructure. Adaptation to climate change and the problem of energy access should both be mainstreamed into development efforts, as appropriate and within country-led development strategies. Focusing on innovative and renewable energy technology could significantly help improving energy access in a sustainable manner while reducing greenhouse gas emissions at the same time. The G8 recognized this at the Gleneagles and Heiligendamm Summits, and noted that adaptation will be particularly challenging for developing countries and regions which are most vulnerable to climate change. The G8 also committed to support partner country efforts to enhance resilience to climate variability in countries that are particularly vulnerable, and to integrate adaptation goals into sustainable development and national development planning, as appropriate. We also acknowledged the importance of the Education for Sustainable Development initiatives and its promotion in order to address Climate Change and other environmental issues effectively.

- Substantial finance and investments will be needed to meet the challenge of mitigation, adaptation and access to clean and sustainable energy. While the main source of financing will be the private sector, public resources will be needed to help the poorest and to leverage private resources. The G8 also supports other initiatives, such as the Congo Basin Forest Partnership which aims to develop the capacity of the people and institutions in the Congo basin to manage their forest and develop livelihoods that are consistent with forest conservation.

- In the Heiligendamm Summit declaration, the G8 equally pledged support to both adaptation and halting deforestation in developing countries and to funding mechanisms, which facilitated the establishment of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility among others. Other sources of funding to address climate change including the Climate Investment Funds are being established as well. We should ensure that the various funding initiatives will complement each other in an effective manner, and that adequate attention is paid to empowering African countries to address the climate change challenge, within their own national priorities.

- We also stress that it is critical to establish a global and comprehensive framework beyond 2012 in which all countries, including major emitting countries, act in a responsible manner and cooperate in accordance with the Bali Action Plan. It will also be critical for the post-2012 framework to include enhanced cooperation on adaptation.

6. Conclusions

- We welcome the economic, social and political progress made by Africa in recent years. As demonstrated in this Progress Report, the G8 is supporting the continent's own efforts to boost growth, ensure human security, achieve the MDGs and tackle environmental problems in many different ways.

- Significant challenges remain, including the need to reinvigorate progress against the MDGs, address the growing threat of climate change and improve agricultural productivity and food security. One of our primary objectives, as Africa Personal Representatives, is therefore to further forge solidarity between Africa and the G8, based on the principles of ownership and partnership, because the challenges Africa is facing are pressing global issues that can only be tackled through the concerted efforts of Africa and its development partners. The G8 has been and will continue to be a committed partner for Africa and has made important commitments in the past, including the commitment to double ODA for Africa by 2010. Recognizing the importance of enhanced transparency, we will strengthen efforts to monitor progress made in the implementation of G8 commitments for Africa, including our annual progress reports.

- We as APR are determined to further strengthen our partnership with African partners. We will work at making our dialogue more effective, focusing on the most pressing challenges for Africa's development.

ANNEX

Progress of each G8 country with respect to commitments towards Africa (as submitted by individual G8 members)

Japan:

Regarding the commitment to "increase ODA volume by $10.0 billion in aggregate over the next five years," Japan's ODA increased from $8.9 billion in 2004 (the base year) to $13.1 billion in 2005, $11.2 billion in 2006 and $7.7 billion in 2007, for a total increase of $5.3 billion in aggregate over the three years. Japan has met its international pledge to "double ODA to Africa over the next three years" by doubling its aid to Africa from $840 million in 2003 (the base year) to $1.71 billion in 2007, including technical cooperation, grant aid, contributions to international organizations, and debt relief. Regarding the commitment to "provide $1.0 billion to EPSA over five years," Japan has already provided sovereign loans of approximately $130.67 million and non-sovereign loans of approximately $103.04 million, a combined total of approximately $233.71 million since 2006.

Through the "Cool Earth Partnership", Japan is engaged in detailed policy discussions with African and other developing countries to construct an effective framework for dealing with climate change beyond 2012, based on ten of billions of dollars of support. The establishment of Japan-Africa Cool Earth Partnership was welcomed at TICADIV.

(TICAD IV)

Japan has held, with the UN, UNDP and the World Bank, the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV) in Yokohama, from 28 to 30 May 2008. Mr. Yasuo Fukuda, Prime Minister of Japan, announced Japan's intention to double its ODA to Africa by 2012. The Prime Minister pledged to offer up to US$4 billion of ODA loans to assist Africa in mainly developing its infrastructure as well as to double its grant and technical cooperation over the next five years. He also pledged to extend financial support of US$ 2.5 billion, including the establishment of the Japan Bank International Cooperation (JBIC) Facility for African Investment, and take other measures to encourage increased private Japanese investment in Africa with the aim of doubling Japanese foreign direct investment to the continent in 2012.

Italy:

The Italian ODA has shown a positive trend in recent years, increasing from 0.15% of GDP in 2004, to 0.20% in 2006. In 2007, ODA has reached the amount of 3.9 Billions USD, increasing by 7.9%, compared to 2006. Actual ODA disbursement (percent change without debt relief) shows an increase of 46.7, the largest among G8 Countries. The Italian ODA for Africa has increased from 307.7 Million USD in 2004, to 873.3 Million USD in 2005 and to 1.05 Billion USD in 2006, more than doubling compared to 2004 (the base year). In 2007 some important commitments have been decided, largely in favour of the more fragile States of Africa. Among them, a contribution to the Global Fund for a total amount of 260 Million Euro for 2006 and 2007. By committing 635 Million Euro to the "Advance Market Commitments" (AMCs), Italy has confirmed as one of the largest supporters of this G8 initiative. Italy also supports the "International Finance Facility for Immunization" (IFFIm) with a commitment of 473.5 Million Euro over 20 years. In 2007 a specific "Italian Africa Peace Facility" (IAPF), worth 40 Million Euro, has been created, with the aim of supporting institution building and activities of the African Union in the field of peace and security. First projects agreed with AU regard Somalia and are intended to contribute to the constitution and reinforcement of the Somali administrative institutions. Other projects supported by the Italian facility are aimed at fostering recruitment and training of the personnel necessary to African Union for accomplishing the mandate established by the AU Charter. Africa is the main beneficiary of the Italian debt relief initiatives. Since the starting of the programs, Italian debt relief provided to African Countries amounts to 2.78 Billion Euro. Italy has also been active in some multilateral initiatives throughout IFIs. In 2007, Italy has participated with 12 million Euro to a financial package of the African Development Bank for the completion of the Bumbuna Dam in Sierra Leone and a contribution of 5 million Euro has been directed to the European Investment Bank Trust Fund for Infrastructures in Africa. Italy is also participating with 1,5 million Euro to a World Bank program in Egypt for expanding girls birth registrations.

Canada:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has confirmed that Canada will meet its commitment to double overall international assistance by 2011, and to double aid to Africa to $2.1 billion by 2008-09.

Health is an important focus of Canada's support to African nations. With a contribution of $105 million, Canada is leading, along with UNICEF, the Catalytic Initiative to Save a Million Lives, which aims to reduce maternal and child mortality. This Initiative is part of the broader African Health Systems Initiative (AHSI), a $450 million commitment between 2006-2016 announced by the Prime Minister at Gleneagles. AHSI aims to support country-led efforts to strengthen health systems in Africa as to make concrete progress towards the health MDGs. Additionally, the Government announced in February 2008 that Canada will provide $450 million over the next three years to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Our peace and security commitment is also strong. Canadian assistance in Sudan has totalled more than $388 million in voluntary contributions since 2006. Canada has recently announced and additional $10.3 million for police and peacekeeping training. We continue to assist ECOWAS and the African Union to build institutional capacity regarding their peace and security mandates.

Canada remains one of the principal donors supporting the African Peer Review Mechanism, which is assisting African countries to improve their political, corporate and economic governance.

Canada is also on target to meet its commitment to increase bilateral support for basic education in Africa from $100M to $150M annually by 2010.

Starting in 2007-2008, CIDA will provide $13.8 M over five years toward aid for trade. Most of these funds will go toward LDCs and Africa.

France:

ODA: France made a commitment within the framework of the European Union to reach an ODA ratio of 0.51% by 2010 and 0.7% by 2015. French development assistance has increased by 5,8 billion euros since 2002 to reach 7,3 billion euros (9,94 billion USD) in 2007, that is to say 0,39% of the GNI. Thus, in 2007, France remains the lead donor country in the G8, in terms of ODA/GNI ratio.

Health: In 2007 France provided a total of 1,445 billion USD for health in Africa of which 466 million USD for AIDS, 166 for malaria, 166,2 for tuberculosis and 35 for polio.

Education: In March 2008, President Sarkozy co-launched a Franco-British initiative in which France aims to provide 8 million additional children in SSA with a primary school education between now and 2010, and to work alongside other donors to increase the recruitment levels of teachers by 3.8 million by 2015.

Peace and security: France's priority is the effective operationalization of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA). France has reorganized its military missions in Africa to provide better military and defence co-operation to regional organisations such ECOWAS, ECCAS, IGAD/Easbricom and SADC. In 2007, 6800 troops from 27 countries, including 9 peace keeping battalions were trained. The flagship French programme RECAMP which focused on ECCAS in 2005-2007, provided additionnal{sic} targeted training to 1836 troops in the region. France also provided logistical support to the CEMAC/ECCAS peacekeeping operation in Central African Republic.

Growth: In February 2008, President Sarkozy announced a 3.8 billion USD economic growth initiative for Africa (over five years) including an investment fund, money to facilitate access to credit and to support the private sector, leading to the creation of 2000 enterprises and 300 000 jobs.

Innovative financing: France has been a driving force regarding the creation of innovative financial mechanisms. France launched the international programme for tax on air tickets in 2006 which is additional to her ODA commitments and contributes 250 millions EUR/year funding to the international drug purchasing facility - UNITAID. France is also one of the main contributors to International Financing Facility for immunisation (IffIm).

United States:

ODA: The United States is on track to meet the President's 2005 pledge at Gleneagles to double assistance to Africa to $8.7 billion by 2010, up from the 2004 base of $4.3 billion. In 2006, U.S. assistance to Africa totaled $6.8 billion, up more than 50 percent from the 2004 level.

Good Governance: The Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) is assisting countries that rule justly, invest in their people, and commit to economic freedom. MCA has signed compacts with eight Sub-Saharan African countries totaling over $3 billion. Additionally, $82 million is being provided through the MCA threshold agreements to fund anti-corruption programming. In FY07, the U.S. provided nearly $175 million for programs that promote just and democratic governance in African nations. The U.S. has taken 11 criminal enforcement actions since 2005 involving violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for bribery of foreign public officials in Africa.

Trade and Investment: The U.S. provided $505 million in trade-related assistance in FY07, a 26 percent increase over FY06 and a 150 percent increase over FY05. The Africa Financial Sector Initiative (AFSI), through the Department of Treasury and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, is expected to mobilize nearly $2 billion in privately-managed investment funds to invest in Africa and provide expert technical assistance to help develop the Continent's capital markets. Exports to the U.S. under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) totaled over $50 billion in 2007 more than six times the level in 2001, the first full year of AGOA. Over 98 percent of U.S. imports from Sub-Saharan Africa receive duty-free treatment under AGOA.

Peace and Security: Since the Sea Island Summit, the U.S. has trained more than 40,000 African peacekeepers. Approximately 80 percent of these U.S.-trained African peacekeepers have been deployed in AU and UN missions, both inside and outside of Africa.

Health: The President requested reauthorization of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which would add $30 billion to the initial $15 billion commitment made in 2003. The Presidents Malaria Initiative (PMI) is providing $1.2 billion to combat malaria in 15 target countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Education: The Africa Education Initiative (AEI) has committed to provide $600 million over eight years to increase access to quality basic education. By 2010, AEI will have distributed over 15 million textbooks, trained nearly one million teachers, and provided 550,000 scholarships for girls. The Presidents Expanded Education for the World's Poorest Children Initiative has committed an additional $525 million over five years, to provide over four million children with access to quality basic education in six target countries, four of which are in Africa.

Debt Relief: Since the Cologne Summit, the U.S. has provided over $3.4 billion in bilateral debt relief commitments to African HIPCs and over $600 million in debt relief to Nigeria.

United Kingdom:

The UK is committed to accelerating progress towards the MDGs and is serious about fighting global poverty. This has been reflected in detailed spending plans. The UK Government's 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review demonstrated that it is keeping its promises to developing countries, by increasing the UK's ODA budget by an average of 11% p.a. in real terms between 2008/9 and 2010/11, doubling the UK's ODA budget between 2004 and 2010. Between 1997 and 2010 the UK's ODA will have more than trebled in real terms. As part of the EU the UK committed to a timetable to spend 0.56% of GNI on ODA by 2010/11, and 0.7% by 2015. The UK is on track to achieve the 2010/11 target, and is committed to a timetable to spend 0.7% of national income on ODA by 2013, two years ahead of the EU target. The UK is on track to double multilateral and bilateral aid to Africa from £1.3 billion in 2004 to more than £3 billion by 2010. Between 2008 and 2011 bilateral aid to Africa will rise to £1.75 billion, more than double the £868 million we provided in 2004/05, meaning that the UK will be spending just over £4.5 billion on bilateral assistance to Africa over the next three years, ensuring that the UK meets the Gleneagles commitment to provide at least half its total additional aid to Africa.

- The UK is now the largest donor to the African Development Fund.

- UK has a target of spending £500 million p.a. on education in Africa by 2010.

- Between now and 2010, the UK with France has committed to supporting 16m children in primary school in sub Saharan Africa.

- The UK is supporting innovative sources of finance including the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (contributing £1.38 billion over 20 years).

- The Prime Minister has committed £100 million to combat malaria in Africa.

- The UK will double funding for better water and sanitation in Africa to £95 million a year by 2007/8, and more than double funding again by 2010/11.

Russia:

In the year 2006 Russia wrote off the African debts for the amount of US$ 4.7 billion. Thus the total sum has risen from US$ 11.3 billion up to US$ 16 billion. Recently Russia has assisted Liberia in canceling its dept to the IMF for the amount of US$ 56 million. Russia is completing negotiations with 6 African states (Ethiopia, Benin, Zambia, Madagascar, Mozambique and Tanzania) on their dept elimination totaled to US$ 550 million.

During last two years we significantly - up to four hundred persons - raised the number of African peace-keepers trained annually in our country.

Participating in the concerted international steps in the sphere of the post-conflict reconstruction in Africa, Russia provides assistance in training African personnel for conducting humanitarian and rescue operations. Possible participation of our country in humanitarian demining programs in some African countries, as well as creation of relevant training center at the continent are under consideration.

Russia supports the IMF Exogenous Shocks Facility contributing in 2006-2010 US$45 million as well as Global Village Energy Partnership- GVEP for the amount of US$ 30 million.

Germany:

Germany is committed to be a partner for a strong Africa and is working towards fulfilling its commitments.

- ODA: Germany achieved an ODA ratio of 0.37% (US$ 12.27 billion) in 2007 and increased its bilateral funding for Africa from US$ 1.40 billion in 2004 to US$ 2.43 billion in 2007 (preliminary data). In addition, a substantial share of German multilateral ODA went to Africa. In 2007, Germany decided to provide further additional funds totalling €3 billion for development cooperation from 2008-2011; for 2008 the German development cooperation budget was increased by 750 million euros. Within the framework of the EU, Germany has made the commitment to reach an ODA ratio of 0.51% by 2010 and 0.7% by 2015. These increases are to be brought about through a combination of increased budget funds, further debt cancellations and innovative sources of financing.

- Innovative Financing: Germany will provide €120 million from emission trading in 2008 for international climate projects. The proceeds are likely to increase over the coming years thus generating further funds for financing development.

- Promoting Investment: Germany is co-initiator of the Making Finance Work for Africa Partnership (MFW4A) and the Regional MSME Investment Fund for Sub-Saharan Africa (REGMIFA). Germany supports other initiatives facilitating sustainable investment, including the Local Currency Fund (TCX) and the Investment Climate Facility (ICF).

- Governance: Germany has provided €400 million in bilateral funds in 2007 for the promotion of democracy, human rights, civil society and public administration worldwide. In 11 African partner countries this is a priority area of German development cooperation.

- Health: From 2008, Germany will provide at least €500 million annually to fight HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis and for related health systems strengthening, from which a substantial part will go to Africa. Germany has been the host of the successful replenishment round of the GFATM in Berlin in September 2007.

- Water and Sanitation: In 2007, Germany as the largest bilateral donor in the African water sector supported 165 water projects with a volume of around 842 million reaching more than 18 million people.

- Agriculture and Food Security: In response to the global food crisis Germany will increase its bilateral support for food security, agricultural and rural development to €500 million in 2008.

- Biodiversity: As host of the 9th Conference of the Parties to the Convention of Biological Diversity (May 2008), Germany has underlined its commitment by pledging an additional €500 million for 2009-2012 and €500 million p.a. as of 2013 for biodiversity projects.

EU:

At Gleneagles, the EU pledged "to reach 0.7 per cent ODA/GNI by 2015 with a new interim collective target of 0.56 per cent ODA/GNI by 2010...At least 50% of this increase should go to Sub-Saharan Africa."

The EU exceeded the collective 2006 Monterrey target of 0.39 per cent ODA/GNI, indicating that it is on track to reach its intermediate targets in 2010. In 2007, EU aid reached $63 billion, a historic high in volume terms. $23 billion of this went to Sub-Saharan Africa in 2006, an increase of more than $8 billion for Africa from 2004 levels, showing the EU is currently meeting the pledge to channel half of the total increase ($16 billion).

The EU is bearing the burden of the G8 pledges. The EU will contribute more than 90% of the global scaling up from 2006 to 2010 ($26 billion out of $28 billion). The EU will also provide 90 per cent ($23 billion) of the additional $25 billion pledged to Africa by 2010.

European Commission aid has increased from $8.7 billion in 2004 to $11.8 billion in 2007, with aid to Africa up from $3.7 billion in 2004 to $5.1 billion in 2007. ODA disbursements will increase to approximately $13 billion in 2010.

The EU is also at the forefront of the efforts to implement the Paris Agenda on Aid Effectiveness.

But the EU-Africa relationship is about much more than just aid. In December 2007, at the second EU-Africa Summit in Lisbon in December 2007, the two continents also strengthened their political partnership through the preparation and adoption of a Joint Africa-EU Strategy - a common strategic vision and roadmap endorsed by all EU and African states as well as the European Commission and the AU Commission. The EU and Africa also adopted an Action Plan, outlining eight sectoral "Africa-EU Partnerships" (on Peace and Security; Democratic Governance and Human Rights; Trade and Regional Integration; the MDGs; Energy; Climate Change; Migration, Mobility and Employment; and Science, Research and Space) that will bring concrete substance to the political objectives outlined in the Joint Strategy.