Brussels, 30/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - In Ise-Shima, Japan, on Friday 27 May the G7 leaders confirmed their determination to implement the 2030 global sustainable development goals and to allocate 0.7% of their GNI to official development assistance.
Much to the satisfaction of NGOs, the statement adopted at the end of the G7 summit says that, while the mobilisation of national resources in developing countries is key to increasing the effectiveness of assistance, development assistance remains crucial for the least developed countries (LDCs).
The G7 have committed to increasing the assistance mobilised at global level to respond to the immediate and long-term needs of refugees and their host communities through humanitarian aid, financial assistance and development aid.
The leaders of the seven most powerful economies in the world call for close coordination between the newly launched support facility for the Middle East and North Africa region and the trust funds that are already up and running (the Madad Fund for Syria and the Emergency Fund for Africa). They believe that “increasing global support for relevant international humanitarian and emergency relief organisations, such as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Food Programme, and UN Children's Rights and Emergency Relief Organization (UNICEF), is vital”.
Describing the response to migration and the refugee crisis as “a global challenge which requires a global response, in full respect for human rights and in accordance with applicable international law”, the G7 leaders place the highest priority on “humanely and effectively managing this challenge” by addressing both the humanitarian consequences and the root causes of mass displacement. These are manifold - conflicts, state fragility and insecurity, demographic, economic and environmental trends, as well as natural disasters. The G7 leaders hail the results of the first World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul and are now counting on the United Nations General Assembly and the Leaders' Summit on Refugees, which are both to be held in New York in September, to address the issue of mass movements of refugees and migrants.
Putting good intentions into practice. ONE, the NGO fighting extreme poverty in the world, says that “the G7 did a good job focusing on the world's most vulnerable people” - refugees, women and girls, those who are hungry and suffer ill health - and on focusing assistance on the neediest people. “This welcome attention needs to translate into concrete commitments in the weeks and months ahead, particularly as donors replenish the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, and pledge further help to displaced people”, the NGO states. It notes that most of the G7 countries have failed lamentably in their commitment to increase their development aid to respond to the urgent humanitarian needs and development needs in the longer term. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)