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News and Information
Group to discuss Africa pledges
| October 4, 2005 |
 Nigerian boys
Britain is giving £200m to a new fund for Africa
Members of the Africa Partnership Forum are meeting in London to discuss how to ensure that the pledges made for improving the continent are met.
It comes as the International Development Secretary, Hilary Benn, announced that Britain is giving £200m to a new fund for Africa.
And G8 countries aim to axe £22bn debt owed to international lenders by impoverished nations, mostly in Africa.
Representatives from the G8 and African nations will attend the meeting.
Mr Benn has said he hopes the forum will agree on a joint plan by which everyone will be held to account for progress in delivering on their pledges.
This refers to donors' promises in recent months to boost aid substantially and cancel debts, as well as pledges made by African nations to make good use of aid in reducing poverty and eliminating corruption.
This will be a meeting about turning the rhetoric of this year of Africa into reality, from both sides
Mike Wooldridge
BBC News
To coincide with this, Mr Benn is channelling £200m into a new World Bank fund that is designed to speed up progress in reducing preventable disease, getting more girls into school and giving more access to clean water in Africa.
"This will be a meeting about turning the rhetoric of this year of Africa into reality, from both sides," said BBC News World Affairs Correspondent Mike Wooldridge.
The G8 - the UK, Canada, France, Japan, Germany, Italy, Russia and the US - agreed a deal at Gleneagles in July, where they agreed to cut debt.
A number of countries, led by Belgium and the Netherlands, have complained that not enough money has been committed by rich nations to make up for the shortfall in funds that the World Bank will face if debt repayments are forgiven. |
Source: www.bbc.com |
| http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4307104.stm |
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