§ Mr. BestTo ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development if he will make a statement on the debt relief and the Millennium Development Goals outcomes of the G8 Summit in Evian. [118429]
§ Hilary BennThe G8 met in Evian on 1 to 3 June 2003 and discussed a number of issues relating to international development
on Africa, significant progress was made on areas such as conflict resolution. It was agreed to expand the group of Africa Personal Representatives and meet at the Africa Partners Forum in November 2003;the G8 supported the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, as part of wider work on corruption. We are now working towards a Conference on the Initiative in mid-June 2003;there was support for the International Finance Facility, which would significantly increase volumes of aid, up to 2015. Finance Ministers were asked to report by September 2003 on financing instruments, including this facility;there was a commitment to making the WTO Ministerial Cancun a success;the outcome on Access to Medicines includes some specific actions for G8 countries, which we will push forward in coming months in our country programmes;the UK announced a further $80 million to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, while calling for improvements in its management. Other EU countries will announce their commitments at the European Council in late June 2003; andthe G8 renewed their commitment to eradicating polio by 2005.On the issue of debt relief, the G8 leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the full implementation and financing of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. They agreed that the World bank and IMF should be asked to: identify, by their next annual meetings, the specific impediments to further progress in each country and the steps needed to tackle them; intensify their efforts to secure the full participation of all creditors by exploring further options to deal with litigation issues; and review by this coming September, the methodology for calculating the amount of 'topping up' debt relief available to countries at Completion Point based on updated cost estimates, including the impact on commodity price fluctuations, so that countries exit the HIPC process with sustainable levels of debt.