IMPLEMENTATION REPORT BY AFRICA PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVES TO LEADERS ON THE G8 AFRICA ACTION PLAN

1. At Kananaskis in 2002 the G8 adopted an Africa Action Plan (AAP) in response to the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). The G8 shares the fundamental objectives of NEPAD. The Africa Action Plan sets out how each of the G8 partners, together or individually, will enhance their engagement with African countries in support of NEPAD. The G8 agreed to review, at their next Summit, progress made in the implementation of the commitments they made in the Africa Action Plan. The following implementation report illustrates the thrust of the G8 response and outlines efforts for implementation in the next years.

I. General remarks

2. In the Africa Action Plan, G8 partners reaffirmed a broad partnership with countries throughout Africa based on the commitments of G8 members to address core issues of human dignity and development. They also undertook to enter into enhanced partnerships with African countries whose performance reflects the NEPAD commitments, including a political and financial commitment to good governance and the rule of law, investing in their people, and pursuing policies that spur economic growth and alleviate poverty. They stated that the results of the African peer-review process would inform their future decisions in this regard.

3. NEPAD presents a bold and clear-sighted African vision of how Africa is assuming responsibility for its development and full integration into the world economy. The G8 countries encourage and support this important endeavour and therefore fully commit themselves to strengthening their partnership with Africa. The United Nations and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development have adopted NEPAD as the basis upon which to build future relations with Africa. We particularly welcome the UN General Assembly resolution adopting NEPAD as the general framework around which the international community including the United Nations system (A/RES/57/2) should concentrate its efforts for Africa’s development.

4. NEPAD and the Africa Action Plan are interlinked; progress in the implementation of one stands to improve the prospects for the other. Partnership based on African priorities is replacing assistance based on donor assumption of Africa’s requirements. This process is beginning to deliver results.

5. We welcome the important progress made by African partners in acting upon the values and principles contained in NEPAD, for example:

• in launching the African Union, which underscores the will of African Leaders to assume joint responsibility for democracy, human rights, peace and stability, and good governance throughout the continent;
• in achieving and consolidating an end to armed conflicts in Angola, between Eritrea and Ethiopia, and in Sierra Leone; in making progress in peace processes in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Sudan; and in working together, with the support of ECOWAS, in helping the return to political stability in Côte d’Ivoire;
• in consolidating democracy through the holding of free and fair elections in a number of African countries;
• in adopting the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) which gives powerful expression to the acknowledgement in NEPAD that sound political, economic and corporate governance is integral to sustainable development in Africa.

African countries have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to accede to the APRM process as of 31 May 2003. The entry-into-operation of the APRM marks a major event in the development of governance in Africa; and,

• in recognising the need to improve communication on the principles and values of NEPAD and to promote further the participation of civil society.

6. It is to be recognised, however, that the aspiration of the people of Africa to enjoy the fundamental human rights, economic opportunities and political freedoms enunciated in NEPAD is, in some instances, still being thwarted, and that the progress towards reaching the Millennium Development Goals is not sufficient in many countries.

7. For their part, each G8 partner has begun to implement programs, which reinforce the commitments, contained in the Africa Action Plan. Major initiatives are being taken in this regard, as indicated in this report which is complemented by the national reports that some G8 partners are preparing or have prepared on their implementation of the Africa Action Plan.

8. Accountability is central to NEPAD and the AAP: the accountability of African Leaders to their people and to each other as well as the determination of developed partners to match that commitment. Individually, G8 partners have begun to give practical expression to that – for example, in the decision of some G8 partners to include African participation in the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) peer-review process.

9. If Africa is to develop in a sustainable manner, additional resources from both domestic and external sources, public and private, will be needed. At Monterrey in March 2002 important commitments of new development assistance were announced. At Kananaskis, it was specified that half or more of the new resources provided by G8 partners could go to African countries that govern justly, invest in their own people and promote economic freedom. By 2006, estimated additional resources stand to increase G8 development assistance to Africa by a total of US$6 billion per year, in addition to the three-quarters of ODA to Africa that the G8 already provides. In 2002, G8 development assistance to Africa is estimated to have reached US$10 billion. Additional resources becoming available include in particular:

• In ratifying the Cotonou Agreement that came into force on 1 April 2003, the EU and its member states made available €13.5 billion of additional grant resources to the European Development Fund (9^th EDF), 80 % of which will go to Africa over the next five years.
• In addition, despite a difficult budgetary background, EU member states are making progress towards achieving the commitments made in Monterrey. In particular, as far as G8 EU members are concerned:
• France, whose direct bilateral assistance to Africa was estimated €2.340 billion in 2002, has pledged to increase its ODA from 0.32% of its GDP in 2001 to 0.50% in 2007 and 0.70% in 2012 with 50% of additional aid targeting Africa; in that context ODA for Africa is expected to reach €3 billion in 2003;
• The United Kingdom has published plans showing how it will reach the announced target of £1 billion per year direct bilateral assistance to Africa by 2006, and the increase in ODA from 0.32 % of GNI in 2001 to 0.4 % in 2005/6;
• Italy has pledged to increase ODA from 0.20% of GDP in 2002 to 0.33% in 2006; and,
• Germany has pledged to increase ODA from 0.27% of GDP in 2002 to 0.33% in 2006. Roughly 33% of German ODA is allotted to Africa.
• The United States has announced the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) as a new assistance program focused on countries that demonstrate their ability to use aid effectively. The Administration’s budget requests US$1.3 billion in new money for FY04, which will ramp up to US$5 billion in FY06 – roughly a 50 percent increase in current United States development assistance.
• The first instalment of the eight percent annual increase in International Assistance committed by Canada, which is intended to double Canadian ODA by 2010, was included in Canada’s February 2003 budget;
• Japan has already implemented ODA amounting to around US$700 million for basic human needs sector based on the commitment at the 2^nd Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in 1998. Japan will hold the TICAD III at the end of September 2003 to support NEPAD by mobilising international resources and expanding global partnership.

II. Building on African Priorities

10.The sections that follow provide examples of the actions that G8 partners are taking to implement the commitments contained in the Africa Action Plan and on which discussion with NEPAD partners have concentrated. These examples do not include detailed references to the following issues being addressed by the G8 at Evian, many of which will yield real benefits for Africa: famine, water, health, trade, debt, aid effectiveness, corruption and transparency and sustainable development.

Promoting peace and security

11. The G8 has actively supported African efforts to achieve and consolidate peace and security throughout Africa but particularly in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Sudan and in other countries such as Burundi, Central African Republic and Côte d’Ivoire. We are committed to continue supporting these efforts and urge the international community to improve its collective ability to support the consolidation of peace and post-conflict reconstruction in African countries emerging from armed conflict. In particular, we invite the International Financial Institutions to strengthen significantly their instruments for the consolidation of peace and post-conflict reconstruction and will work to this end in their governing bodies.

12. To develop African capacity for promoting peace and security, the following actions are representative of steps taken by the G8:

• A Joint Africa/G8 Plan to enhance African Capabilities to undertake Peace Support Operations, developed through the Berlin Process, that aims to mobilise technical and financial assistance so that, by 2010, African partners are able to engage more effectively to prevent and resolve violent conflict on the continent, and undertake peace support operations in accordance with the United Nations Charter. In this Joint Plan we recognise that the African vision for its peace and security infrastructure is a work in progress and commit to working with African partners, step by step, to develop key building blocks that will help to channel existing resources more effectively. Early building blocks that have been identified include:

a. the establishment, equipping and training by 2010 of coherent, multinational, multi-disciplinary standby brigade capabilities including civilian components, at the AU and regional level, in particular integrated mission planning capability, mission field headquarters and strategic headquarters which would be available for UN-endorsed missions undertaken under the auspices of the UN, AU or an African regional organization;

b. the development of capacities to provide humanitarian, security and reconstruction support in the context of complex peace support operations; and,

c. the development of institutional capacities at the continental and sub-regional level to prevent conflict through mediation, facilitation, observation and other strategies.

This plan is annexed to this report and will be submitted to Leaders at Evian for endorsement.

• Substantial support – both funding and technical assistance - has been contributed by G8 partners towards institutional capacity-building for peace and security, the development of capacity for peace-keeping operations and of an effective network in Africa of peace training centres for military and civilian personnel involved in peace support operations. Of note is the joint support of Germany, the UK, the United States and Canada provided to the Kofi Annan International Peace Training Centre in Ghana, and to the Peace Support Training Centre in Kenya and French support for the Koulikoro Peace Training Centre in Mali, as well as EC, UK and Canadian support to the Peace and Security agenda of the African Union.

13. Effective mine action is an essential element of confidence-building to promote peace and stability in a post-conflict situation. G8 countries have begun to work more closely together, committed over US$35 million in 2002 towards mine action in Africa and have agreed to strengthen their commitment. They remain committed to ensuring that mine action in Africa reflects the needs and priorities of the governments and people in countries where landmines present an obstacle to development.

14. G8 partners have assisted in establishing continental, regional and sub-regional/national capacities for the implementation of the UN Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) and Regional Action Plans in particular in East Africa, and supported the ECOWAS Moratorium on the import of SALW. Export criteria and control of brokering activities remain high on the agenda.

15. Human security, in particular in war-affected areas is a common concern of the G8 partners. Japan intends to give greater priority to Africa in initiatives supported by the Trust Fund for Human Security (US$203 million). Canada's five foreign policy program priorities for advancing human security – support for public safety, protection of civilians, conflict prevention, governance and accountability, and peace support operations also retain a significant focus on Africa.

Strengthening institutions and governance

16. In strengthening institutions, governance and promoting human rights, the following are representative of the actions that are being taken:

• Substantial new funding and assistance has been provided for governance-related capacity-building including for public sector reform, the strengthening of parliaments and judicial systems and promoting the freedom of the press. For example, Canada has provided over C$40 million for such capacity building at the national and municipal levels and for parliaments. Among other G8 initiatives, Italy has organised a triennial conference with Chairmen of African Parliaments;
• The EU provides substantial support to strengthening governance and institutional capacities in Africa, in particular through it European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), that has approved new projects worth €17 million in 2002 and programmed an additional amount of €30 million in 2003 for Africa;
• Germany and the UK have encouraged African governments to accelerate the pending ratification of the African Court of Human and People’s Rights. Germany and France are ready to provide support to the Court's establishment once it is ratified;
• We are highly appreciative of NEPAD efforts against corruption and intend to support them. As an example, the United States has initiated an Africa Anti-Corruption Initiative, budgeted at the level of US$36 millions over 5 years. And the UK is supporting the development of the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money-laundering group (ESAAMLG);
• France supports OHADA, the association for harmonisation of business law in Africa, which promotes the introduction and application of OHADA uniform law in 16 countries and intends to facilitate its progress;
• We support the priority given by NEPAD to the integration of women and girls into the social, political and economic sectors of society in an equitable way. Specific examples of types of programmes supported by the G8 are: girls’ scholarship programmes across the continent; women’s peace centres in Burundi; finance programmes for the rural women of Rwanda; initiatives on equity in education in Ethiopia; programmes to increase women’s participation in grassroots development activities in Benin;

The G8 is providing additional support to programmes against female genital mutilation in West Africa.

Fostering trade, investment, economic growth and sustainable development

17.  Economic growth is an essential precondition for the reduction of poverty. In fostering trade, investment, economic growth and sustainable development, the following are representative of the actions taken by G8 partners.

Trade

18. A number of significant trade initiatives have been taken including the European Union’s Everything But Arms; the United States’ African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA); Canada’s opening of its markets, tariffs and quota-free, to almost all imports from the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) effective 1 January 2003; Japan’s improved duty and quota-free treatment for almost all imports from LDCs by expanding the coverage on agricultural and fishery products; and the granting by Russia of extensive tariff preferences to developing countries including LDCs.

19. In addition, the G8 gives significant support for trade-related capacity building in Africa including US$345 million by the U.S. and €373 million by the EU alone within the last two years. These programmes are complemented by support for sub-regional activities in trade facilitation (customs modernisation, norms and standards…), such as the €293 million provided by the European Union alone earmarked for regional trade and integration for sub-Saharan Africa under the 9^th EDF. G8 countries intend to pursue these initiatives and to take steps to harmonise and co-ordinate them with a view to increasing their effectiveness.

20. G8 Leaders reiterate their commitment to the objective of duty-free quota-free market access for products originating from LDCs, most of which are located on the African Continent. They further reiterate their commitment to improve the effectiveness and ease of use of their respective trade preference programmes. They instruct their trade officials to explore how to implement this objective in practice.

21. Recognising that commodity market and weather related shocks are a challenge for the poorest countries generally, especially in Africa, G8 Leaders welcome the efforts underway by the World Bank Group to examine the potential for effective market-based mechanisms to help mitigate weather and commodity shocks in these countries. G8 Leaders look forward to the results of the World Bank Group’s study of market-based mechanisms to mitigate the impact of these shocks, including pilot projects.

Investment

22. Various initiatives have been launched to encourage private sector investment in Africa, such as: the European Union’s €110 million investment promotion scheme (Proinvest) and its €2.2 billion Investment Facility managed by the European Investment Bank (EIB), the bulk of which will go to Africa; the Franco-British initiative aimed at fostering private investment in developing countries particularly African countries announced at the World Summit for Sustainable Development with a joint financing of €200 million; Canada’s establishing a Canada Investment Fund for Africa with C$100 million in government funding to be matched by the private sector; the provision by Japan of overseas investment loans in Africa, with a target amount of approximately US$300 million in five years for overseas investment loans in Africa; the support provided by the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation to more than US$700 million in investment in Sub-Saharan Africa since 2001, and Italy’s opening of a €50 million Fund to support joint ventures between the Italian and African private sector.

23. Investment in infrastructure, including through private-sector engagement, has been encouraged through, for example: the establishment of an infrastructure-related project-preparation facility within the African Development Bank, initially with Canadian support; Japan’s commitment of more than US$1 billion earmarked for infrastructure development in Africa beginning 2003; the United Kingdom’s support of US$100m to the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund which has already attracted US$205m of increased private sector investment for Africa’s infrastructure; and the European Union’s support to sub-Saharan Africa of over € 500 million per year, which is increasingly guided by a regional approach.

24. To increase the quality and effectiveness of aid, the G8 agreed to key principles and actions in the following four areas: a) to improve the quality of poverty reduction strategies, particularly the need to better reflect a credible plan to achieve lasting growth; b) to make further steps to improve harmonisation building on the February 2003 Rome Declaration; c) to focus development assistance on measurable results; and, d) to send a clear signal on the importance they attach to good governance in considering the allocation of international assistance. 

Implementing debt relief

25. Debt relief remains a priority on the G8 agenda. Since Kananaskis, 22 of the poorest countries in Africa have benefited from US$32 billion in debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative and excluding additional bilateral efforts. Significant progress has been achieved to fill the estimated financing gap facing the HIPC Trust Fund through pledges of US$850 million.

26. Individual debt relief efforts include:

• the cancellation by the Russian Federation in 1998-2002 of US$11,2 billion of African countries debt of which US$3,4 billion in 2002;
• Japan’s commitment to cancel approximately US$4.9 billion official debts of African HIPCs under the Enhanced HIPC Initiative. Japan has also recently changed its method of debt relief measures concerning ODA debts of HIPCs and other eligible countries owed to Japan Bank for International Cooperation with a view to achieving an earlier solution to the debt problems and reducing the burden on debtor countries;
• on top of €10bn cancellation implemented before the Cologne summit, France’s commitment to cancel around €10bn for HIPC African countries. Nearly half of this amount is related to additional bilateral debt forgiveness beyond the initiative's requisites that partly takes the form of debt swaps as a source of financing in support of PRSPs (the debt is cancelled to free up resources for the financing of development programmes);
• the cancellation by the United States of 100 percent of the debts contracted prior to the June 1999 Cologne Economic Summit for qualified HIPC countries. By 2004, the US estimates that it will forgive nearly $4.2 billion in debt for African countries;
• $1.5 billion by Italy;
• on top of €3.5 billion cancelled before the Cologne summit, the cancellation by Germany of €2.5 billion for HIPC African countries;
• Canada’s debt service moratorium for 6 African HIPCs and its agreement to forgive all debts once countries reach their completion point, as it has done recently for Tanzania and Benin. This implies the forgiveness of over C$1.1 billion in debts owed to Canada by 14 African HIPCs; and,
• the United Kingdom’s commitment by to providing 100 per cent debt relief on both aid and non-aid debts for qualifying HIPC countries, and its readiness to cancel around £2 billion in debts owed to the UK by African HIPCs.

27. Agreements on a new Paris Club approach for non-HIPC low-and middle-income countries, adopted by Finance Ministers in Deauville on 17 May 2003, open the perspective of additional progress towards lasting debt sustainability, while ensuring that debt restructuring remains the last resort.

Expanding Knowledge, Improving and Promoting Education and Expanding Digital Opportunities

28. G8 countries are providing significant additional funding for basic education, including the Education-for-All Fast Track Initiative of the World Bank which involves 13 African countries of which six have been selected for financing and capacity-building. For example:

•  the United States has increased its annual funding (US$114 million) for education by a total of US$200 million over five years for basic education, including girls’ scholarships, teacher training, textbooks, and education system reform;
• the United Kingdom has increased its aid to education in Africa from £105 million in 2002 to an estimated £175 million in 2003;
• Canada is doubling its support for basic education in Africa to C$100 million per year by 2005. An additional C$50 million for basic education is being provided to each of Mozambique and Tanzania for each of the next five years;
• France has announced after Kananaskis a significant increase in its effort and will provide €65 million over 3 years for 4 African countries selected by the Fast Track initiative (Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mauritania and Niger);
• Based on the initiative launched last year, Japan provided US$51 million to Africa for basic education, particularly for school construction and distribution of textbooks in 2002. It is estimated that about 220 thousand children are benefited from this aid;
• In 2002, Germany made new commitments in support of basic education and technical and vocational training amounting to €135 million. In 2003, new commitments of approximately €150 million are planned for both areas, of which approximately 30 % will be directed to Africa; and,
• Italy provided €25 million for primary education in Ethiopia over the 2003-2005 period.

29. G8 countries have provided support for information-technology-based distance-learning initiatives in Africa, including the African Virtual University, and have supported the promotion of connectivity and e-governance in Africa, including through the setting-up of the Global ePolicy Response Network (ePolNET), Connectivity Africa and the Enablis private-sector initiative in support of small- and medium-sized enterprises. In addition, Italy and the Russian Federation are jointly promoting the use of communications technologies for medical treatment, and Italy is promoting, with Canada, e-governance initiatives in Mozambique and Nigeria.

30. G8 partners welcome the World Summit for the Information Society as a forum in which to discuss the ICT-for-Development agenda and help to increase recognition of the role of ICT as a catalyst for sustainable social and economic development around the world, and in Africa in particular.

Improving Health and Confronting HIV/AIDS

31. G8 countries are providing additional support for African efforts to combat the effects of HIV/AIDS, build sustainable health systems and support health research. Since its inception at the Genoa Summit, G8 countries have pledged US$3.2 billion to the Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria over a five-year period. Of the US$1.5 billion already committed, 60 percent is targeted to Africa and 60 percent to HIV/AIDS. Germany has sought to enhance the use made by African countries of the Global Fund, through the development of training programmes and measures to improve process control, evaluation and the stronger involvement of civil society and the private sector in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

32. The United States has announced US$15 billion over five years (of which almost US$10 billion is new funds) towards the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. Of the 14 countries to receive this money, 12 are in Africa. The Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will receive $1 billion, conditional upon no United States contribution to the Global Fund causing the total US contributions to exceed 33 percent of the total amount of funds added to the Global Fund from all other sources.

33. In keeping with our pledge at Kananaskis to provide, on a fair and equitable basis, sufficient resources to eradicate polio by 2005, we have pledged an additional US$486 million and remain committed to playing our full part to ensure that the remaining funding gap is closed.

34. G8 partners are providing additional support towards the development and improvement of sustainable health systems in Africa. For example, the EC, the UK and Canada continue to give substantial support to health system strengthening with a shift from projects towards sector wide approaches and budget support; the EC made additional commitments in 2002 of €117 million and the UK increased health expenditure to an estimated £153 million in 2003. Italy is developing the Africa Network of Hospital Centres of Excellence. Through the ESTHER initiative, France, Italy and other developed countries are implementing North-South twinning of hospitals to increase the capacity of Southern hospitals to treat HIV/AIDS patients, financing more than 50 partnerships in 14 countries.

35. G8 countries continue working with a view to stepping up their research and development effort for neglected diseases that particularly affect developing countries in Africa. As an example, France is providing ongoing support for such research in a network of institutions both in Africa (e.g. the Muraz Centre in Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso), and in France (e.g. Institut Pasteur). Japan has established two centres for International Parasite Control in Kenya and Ghana for research and human resources development in the fields of parasitic diseases control.

Increasing Agricultural Productivity and Protecting Biodiversity

36. Over 40 million people in Africa are at risk of starvation. This situation derives not only from climatic conditions and natural disasters but from more structural causes, such as chronic poverty, lack of infrastructures, appropriate support and enabling environment for agriculture, together with HIV/AIDS prevalence, increasing number of conflicts, poor governance and economic management and trade related issues. Since Kananaskis, we have committed the following amounts to address these needs: US$1.7 billion in humanitarian emergency aid and US$1.4 billion in long term agriculture and food security assistance for sub-Saharan Africa.

37. While taking immediate action to avert the present peril of humanitarian crises, the G8 countries recognise the strong need for a long-term solution to food insecurity and are committed to working in partnership with countries in Africa, the United Nations and other international bodies to address this issue particularly highlighted by African partners. In this regard, G8 countries undertake to work towards reversing the decline, over the past decade, in the provision of agriculturally-oriented development assistance in Africa and to encourage international financial institutions to increase the assistance they provide for agricultural development and effective use of water with a particular attention to the particular circumstances of the rural poor in the Poverty Reduction Strategies.

38. We support integrated approaches and programmes to identify the root causes of hunger and malnutrition and tackle them in order to prevent famine. Our support includes: increased assistance for work relating to Africa undertaken by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and support by the US and UK for the design of the African Agricultural Technology Foundation; supporting South-South cooperation on agricultural research and development including Japan’s support to New Rice for Africa (NERICA); and, Italy, France and Japan’s support for the FAO’s special programme on food security.

39. G8 partners intend to prioritise regional initiatives such as, providing financial and technical support to the Congo Basin Forest Partnership Initiative (CBFPI), launched at WSSD in Johannesburg to promote the sustainable use of the resources of the largest remaining forest in Africa, which boasts a unique bio-diversity. The CBFPI has received up to €65 million from France, US$53 million from the United States through 2005 and €25 million from Germany.

Improving Water Resource Management

40. To reach the Millennium development goals for water, the problems to be addressed are governance, capacity building and financing. For each, the challenge is to make sure that decision-making capability and financial means are as close as possible to the places where the real needs are, particularly in rural areas. The G8 water action plan aims at encouraging good governance in the water sector through enhanced technical assistance. It seeks to diversify financial sources and mechanisms in order to increase the overall volume of financial flows invested in the sector. It stresses the role of local authorities and women. It specifically highlights: (i) promoting good governance; (ii) utilising all financial resources; (iii) building infrastructure by empowering local authorities and communities; (iv) strengthening monitoring, assessment and research; (v) reinforcing engagement of international organisations.

41. The EU Water Initiative, launched at the WSSD Summit, will promote good governance, sustainable water resources management and stronger partnerships amongst stakeholders. Additional financial resources and flexible mechanisms are needed to meet such targets, and, in this context, the European Commission has put forward a proposal, currently being discussed with EU Member States and ACP partners, for the establishment of an EU water fund of €1 billion.

42. Accelerated access to sustainable water supply and sanitation to rural Africa is particularly needed and will be achieved through using flexible, transparent and fast-paced procedures for programme and project preparation, appraisal and implementation as well as procurement, disbursements and financial management, with a high degree of involvement of local communities. France has announced its intention to support the initial funding of the African Development Bank’s Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Initiative designed to implement these principles. Such investments are, par excellence, a field for co-operation with civil society and the G8 intends to support this involvement. Japan and the U.S. will cooperate in West Africa (Ghana, Mali, Niger and Senegal) under the Clean Water for People Initiative launched at the WSSD last September.

43. G8 partners attach particular importance to regional trans-boundary approaches to the management of shared watercourses as a means of promoting regional economic integration and of building confidence and preventing conflict. They are providing support for the Nile Basin Initiative, for the Niger River Basin authorities and for the efforts of SADC to manage the Zambezi and Limpopo river systems. Among other initiatives adopted on the occasion of the 3^rd World Water Forum held in Japan, Japan and France for instance agreed to co-operate in supporting the Senegal River Basin. Germany promotes the foundation of a centre of excellence for African River Basin Organisations, which could be attached to the African Minister’s Council on Water (AMCOW) in order to link up to a continent-wide network.

III. Way forward for the next years

44. G8 Personal Representatives for Africa welcome the excellent dialogue they have had with NEPAD colleagues. This marks a continuing shift towards a true partnership with Africa. Building on the visionary approach of African reformers, this partnership is producing real results. In particular:

• tangible progress in addressing the issue of conflict in Africa including a joint Africa/G8 plan to enhance African capabilities to undertake peace support operations;
• the commitment of the G8 countries to achieve a breakthrough in trade negotiations by demonstrating progress in Cancun;
• delivering on Monterrey and Kananaskis commitments, strengthening development support and increasing its quality;
• paying increased attention to the needs of the agricultural sector and for food security;
• recognising the impact of HIV/AIDS in all sectors, increasing the level of support in addressing it as well as making further steps to the eradication of polio; and,
• giving increased emphasis to making progress towards the Millennium Development Goal for water and sanitation as underscored at Johannesburg and Kyoto.

45. We are deeply appreciative of the participation in our dialogue with NEPAD partners, of representatives of other industrialised-country development partners and of relevant multilateral agencies which share our common objectives for Africa.

46. G8 Personal Representatives underscore the need for continued progress in the implementation of the Africa Action Plan if African partners are to achieve the long-term objectives set out in NEPAD.