G8 leaders taking baby steps in the right direction

The 2010 G8 Summit will be remembered, in part, for the launch of the Canadian government led Muskoka Initiative – a strong agenda for stopping preventable child and maternal deaths. Sadly, the 2010 G8 Summit may also be remembered for not providing this Initiative with enough financial resources and an agreement to act on this global problem quickly.

These eight powerful countries supported the need for strong action on child and maternal health but their support for the idea did not translate into strong financial commitments for the Muskoka Initiative. The Canadian government agreed to make a significant financial investment in child and maternal health by committing $1.1 billion dollars in new money (not moving money from one issue to another) to the Initiative. Other G8 government’s, agreed to providing some new financial support to the Initiative but not enough to make the difference that is so urgently needed in the lives of children and their mothers.

In total, 5 billion dollars over a five year period was committed to the Muskoka Initiative by G8 governments. As a point of reference for this commitment, here are some other significant financial commitments:
- the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has a budget of just under $20 billion. This Fund is for addressing the needs adults and children and it has been in existence since 2002;
- the cost of the G8 and G20 Summits for the Canadian government will be just over $1 billion.

In the meeting Communique – the Summit’s final report - all the G8 leaders promised to save 1.3 million children and recognized the importance of taking concrete and coordinated action to support child and maternal health. They also agreed to important steps to ensure that all G8 countries will be held accountable for not fulfilling the promises they have made at G8 Summits.

However, the reality is that 8.8 million children died last year mostly from preventable illnesses. Preventing the deaths of 1.3 million children will certainly contribute to decreasing the death rates of children under-five; unfortunately, it doesn’t meet the promise of reducing child deaths by 2/3rd – roughly 6 million - by 2015.

To reach this 2015 goal, the G8 governments will need to take their understanding of what can be done to stop preventable child and maternal deaths to other governments in forums such as the United Nations General Assembly in September 2010 and to the G20 Summit in South Korea in November 2010. At each of these meetings, governments can make concrete commitments to support the Muskoka Initiative. With this kind of increased support, decreasing the number of preventable child and maternal deaths by 2/3rd might be within reach in 2015.

World Vision asks G8 leaders to deliver on their promises!

World Vision made their presence at the G8 Summit known to Torontonians and the world. We transformed the corner of King and Jarvis in downtown Toronto to stage creative visual display of larger than life ‘pregnant with promises’ G8 leaders roaming around on stilts. Each pregnant G8 leader was examined with an ultrasound machine and by a midwife using a South African vuvuzela horns to "check" on the state of their promises to children under-five around the world. The results of the test showed the promises they have made:

1) Increase global funding for health.
2) Make child and maternal health a global priority.
3) Ensure access to basic health care.
4) Strengthen health systems and increase work force.
5) Prevent child and maternal ill health – water, sanitation, education
6) Universal access to prevention, treatment and care and support for children impacted by HIV and AIDS.
7) Act to ensure food and nutrition security.
8) Implement mechanisms to monitor and evaluate progress.

Local World Vision activists walked around the leaders holding ghostly white strollers, cribs and toys to symbolize the 8.8 million children every year who die before their fifth birthday.

We were pleased to have a number of media outlets at the event taking video, photographs and interviewing World Vision spokespeople. Everyone involved really enjoyed the mini-play that we put on. Even police officers who stopped by to check on us said that they were pleased to see an event that was talking about such an important issue.

Here is a little video clip of what we did.

Be part of a key moment in changing the lives of children.

You can join the Five for 5 Facebook Fan page to stay on top of what governments, organizations and individuals are doing to make sure that children can live and thrive past their fifth birthday. World Vision Canada along with colleagues from across the world will be in Toronto and Muskoka to remind the governments that are part of the G8 Summit to:

1. honour all previous commitments to improving child and maternal health;
2. work together to create the beginnings of a global plan of action to improve child and maternal health;
3. make new money available to support a basket of interventions, such as good nutrition, access to clean water and good sanitation and providing basic health services, that will save the lives of children under-five.

Are you At the Table?

Here is a chance for you to take your place At The Table along with 1000’s of Canadians. As the Five for 5 campaign has been working to ensure that the Canadian government shows leadership on child health at the June G8 Summit, other groups and coalitions have created campaigns on other issues of importance to Canadians. This week we are encouraging you take part in a huge Canadian effort to make sure issues of importance to people living in poverty are on the table in Huntsville at the Summit.

This innovative campaign was developed by a large coalition of Canadian development, environmental and social justice organizations including World Vision. While the G8 “table” is a small one, the people that are impacted by their decisions are numerous. At the Table is seeking to ensure that any decisions that the G8 Summit makes are on issues of great importance to the majority of the people in the world.

By visiting the "At the Table" website and adding your name to the online petition you can help press Stephen Harper and other G8 leaders to make decisions at the coming summit on issues affecting the lives of children and their families —poverty, climate change, and economic justice. The At the Table coalition wants G8 governments to make decisions that will help to create a world that is fair and sustainable for everyone, particularly the poor who suffer the most from inequality and injustice.

You can also doing something a little more fun and creative with the special At the Table - Flat Leader petition. You can download, print and cut out the image of your Flat G8 Leader designed by award-winning Montreal artist Kate Puxley. Click here to see how you can take part in the Flat Leader photo petition.