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From Africa Recovery, Vol.18 #1 (April 2004), Briefs page UK launches Africa commission Africa will be a top priority during the United Kingdom's presidencies of the Group of 8 industrialized nations and the European Union next year, British Prime Minister Tony Blair has pledged. Launching a new Commission for Africa in February, he said that while it would not be easy, the continent and the donors should aim to attain the international targets to reduce poverty, known as the Millennium Development Goals. By next year, the commission, which Mr. Blair chairs, is expected to identify the global trends influencing Africa's development and propose effective policies to tackle the continent's problems. The commission will carry out a "comprehensive assessment" of the situation in Africa, looking at what has worked in the past and what has not, he said. About a dozen international figures including UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, UN Economic Commission for Africa Executive Secretary K.Y. Amoako, South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel and development activist and musician Bob Geldof will serve on the body. Africa is the only continent that has grown poorer in the past 25 years, that has had its share of world trade halved in a generation and that received less than 1 per cent of direct foreign investment, Mr. Blair said. "Any initiative that provides real solutions is a welcome
step," commented Save the Children Director General Mike
Aaronson. "But this must be more than just another report
on Africa, with yet more targets, plans or strategies that fail
to deliver. It must be judged on the concrete action it produces." This article may be freely reproduced, with attribution to
"Africa Recovery, United Nations". Africa Recovery Tel: (212) 963-6857
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