ONE’s response to the ‘Lough Erne Accountability Report’ released by the UK government in advance of the G8 Summit.
Adrian Lovett, Europe Executive Director for ONE said: “This is the most transparent and comprehensive assessment yet seen of G8 leaders’ promises in the fight against poverty, hunger and disease. It shows that while the G8 can point to good progress against many of their commitments, there are important areas where they are falling short. On the eve of the UK-led Nutrition Summit, the report shows that commitments made in 2009 on food security have still not been fully met. And while much progress has been made on health funding, support has plateaued in recent years. With less than 1,000 days left to meet the Millennium Development Goals, it is critical that the G8 and others deliver on their promises, raise their investment and allocate effectively to those countries most in need. If previous promises are not kept, future commitments will lack credibility.
“The G8 has an important role in helping ensure developing countries’ own resources are more transparent and that governments can be held accountable for how they are used. It’s surprising that the report downplays the recent adoption in the US and European Union of binding transparency laws covering oil, mining and gas. With transparency high on the 2013 G8 agenda, this is a real gap. At the Lough Erne Summit, leaders must make clear commitments on mandatory reporting of payments by companies in the extractives sector, on public registries that make clear who benefits from company ownership, and on a formal system so that tax authorities around the world can automatically exchange information. In a tough economic climate, these steps, together with renewed commitments to aid, are vital to help developing countries retain and invest the resources they earn, rather than lose them through tax evasion and illicit financial flows.”
The report is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/lough-erne-accountability-report
ENDS
For more information please contact Asha Tharoor in the press office on 0209 7434 7554 or [email protected]