U.S. Aid to Africa Falls Short of Bush’s Claim, Report Says

U.S. financial assistance to Africa has increased by 56% over the past four years but has not tripled as President Bush claimed earlier this month, according to a report released on Monday by the Brookings Institution, Reuters reports. Bush at a June 7 press conference with British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that U.S. financial commitments to sub-Saharan Africa have tripled since 2001. Bush and Blair met to discuss Blair's proposal to double aid to the continent by 2015. Following Bush's statement, Susan Rice, former assistant secretary of state in the Clinton administration and currently a senior fellow at Brookings, examined U.S. financial commitments for child survival and HIV/AIDS programs, as well as support for peacekeeping efforts. She found that total aid to sub-Saharan Africa increased to $3.39 billion during fiscal year 2004 -- the last completed fiscal year of the Bush administration. This compares with $2.34 billion in total aid to the region in FY 2000, the last full fiscal year of the Clinton administration. Rice added that more than 53% of the total increase consisted of emergency food aid. "[Food aid] is important for lifesaving, but from a development point of view, it is a Band-Aid," Rice said, adding that the meeting of the Group of Eight industrialized nations next week in Gleneagles, Scotland, is a "historic opportunity" for the United States to increase aid to developing nations (Reuters, 6/27). However, USAID administrator Andrew Natsios on Monday at a two-day U.N. conference on development financing defended the United States' level of commitment for international aid, saying that the country is the largest donor worldwide, the Washington Times reports. He added that the United States does not intend to meet international standards by committing 0.7% of its gross domestic income to development aid. "We do not believe that there are any magic numbers for achieving our mutual goals," Natsios said, adding, "No matter what we do, we will never reach 0.7%" (Pisik, Washington Times, 6/28).

U.S. Religious Leaders Urge Increased Aid to Africa
Thirteen religious leaders on Monday urged Bush to pledge an additional $2 billion to $3 billion annually in aid to Africa during the G8 summit, the Washington Times reports. Leaders from evangelical, Catholic and Protestant denominations asked Bush to increase the amount allocated in the federal budget to international poverty programs by at least 1% to total about $25 billion (Duin, Washington Times, 6/28). "We would like to see the Bush administration turn a good record on Africa into a great record on Africa," Richard Cizik, vice president of the National Association of Evangelicals, said. He added, "We are lending our voice to this cause in a way never before done" (Vieth, Los Angeles Times, 6/28). France, Germany, Brazil and Chile on Monday also called for a tax on airline tickets to raise funds for HIV/AIDS and poverty eradication efforts. According to French Economic Minister Thierry Breton, the tax could differ for domestic and international flights and for economy and business seats. He added that the tax also could vary depending on a country's wealth and that the proceeds could be directed to existing institutions to avoid bureaucracy (Lederer, AP/Washington Post, 6/28).