Updated: The G8 released its 2011 Accountability Report which reviews the progress member countries have made to meet their previous commitments. The NGO community is not impressed and have accused the G8 of whitewashing the real figures. The Accountability Report focuses on two main sectors: food and health - following up the 2009 L'Aquila food commitment of $22 billion and the 2010 Muskoka health initiative that committed over $5 billion for maternal and child health. The introduction of the Report, however, reviewed the international donors progress on meeting the 2005 Gleneagles Commitments of $50 billion a year extra in ODA by 2010 - it is this fudge of figures that is causing the NGO community to respond with dismay.
The G8 reports that the OECD members (the original group) increase ODA by $48 billion per year, so only $2 billion short. But as the Financial Times reported, this figure does not include inflation, which squews the results considerably. The OECD, the rich country think tank, own aid figures which are adjusted for inflation, show that the G8 and international community was actually $19 billion short per year of the overall $50 billion goal.
As expected the NGO community is not impressed. Oxfam International's Emma Seery commented: "“Rather than deliver on their promises, the G8 have cooked the books and massaged their aid figures upwards to cover up their lack of action,” said Emma Seery, spokesperson for Oxfam. “This is not an accountability report, it is a cover up that is deeply embarrassing for the G8 and an insult to the world’s poorest people.”
Actionaid also saw the Report as a whitewash: "The G8 has purposefully fudged its figures to look like it is meeting its commitments, but the truth is few nations have accurately reported where the money has gone or who it has helped. Shamefully the EU and Japan have not reported back on how much cash they have delivered at all. With the world one failed harvest away from a food crisis, the G8 has got to start taking its hunger promises seriously."
The UK campaign, Malaria No More was disappointed at the lack of clear information on their progress to meeting teir targets: "Disappointingly not every G8 country has documented its contribution to tackling malaria, nor have the group made clear their future plans."
The ONE Campaign dismissed the Report as whitewash. ONE's Executive Director commented: "The G8 accountability report was meant to ensure promises made were tracked and measured. Instead, the report released by the G8 attempts to whitewash the shortfalls.
The Drummond added "On top of this the reporting of progress on agriculture and maternal and child health promises is underwhelming. It amounts to little more than a weak account of the current state of affairs and has no clear explanation for the lack of progress on these commitments."
The report is particularly disappointing in its lack of transparency of the overall figures as well as the detailed elements of health and food ODA. While the introduction of the Report proudly states "The G8 is on a renewed path of transparent follow-up of its commitments..." it has failed to deliver the information needed to access the real progress on its pledges.
