How Far Have We Come, One Year After Gleneagles

Archbishop NdunganeArchbishop Ndungane

July 2006

To celebrate the anniversary of the Gleneagles Summit in 2005, the African Monitor hosted a seminar in Washington on the 13th July 2006. The seminar was organized by the Centre for Global Justice and Reconciliation in cooperation with the Centre for Global Development. The Archbishop Ndungane, founder of the African Monitor, together with Namhla Mniki (Project Director) addressed an audience of about 70 people, looking at the extent to which the Gleneagles promises have been fulfilled and the remaining challenges; as well as the role of the African Monitor in filling the gap.

In essence, the African Monitor is calling for:

  • The Target of $50 billion in Aid per annum to be reached sooner than 2015.
  • An increase the number of countries benefiting from debt relief; as well as an understand that debt relief is not a form of aid, but rather redress.
  • To ensure trade justice in the global economic system by promoting policies that are beneficial to poor countries.
  • To increase civil societies participation in the G8 and APF processes, by ensuring continued support for Civil G8 in 2007.
  • An assurance from G8 leaders that African will be kept on the agenda, by ensuring that in the ensuing discussions on Climate Change, Energy, Weapons of mass discussion and other topics of discussion, there is always a consideration of how these issues affect Africa and other developing nations.

The Archbishop strongly argued that the role of civil society in ensuring that these and other needs are met was crucial. He emphasized that the role of the African Monitor as a monitoring and advocacy body would be to ensure that development promises are being kept by monitoring the rate and pace of delivery, as well as the quality of programmes. In this way accountability and transparency would be encouraged, while aid effectiveness and programme delivery would be ensured on the ground.