British PM Blair vows to keep up pressure on aid for Africa

British Prime Minister Tony Blair is currently in South Africa for a summit of centre-left government leaders, reports Reuters today.

Mr Blair vows to keep up pressure on international help for Africa, saying the wealthy world still needs to make good its promises to give aid, trade and peacekeeping help.

Britain was on track to meet a goal of devoting 0.7 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to aid for poor countries and that other initiatives, such as a plan for near universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS, were also making headway.

Full report (Reuters) 13 February 2006.

Further reading:

Feb 1, 2006 (Reuters) - At the UN, the US and Britain were drafting a Security Council statement for approval next week that would ask UN officials to draft plans for a Darfur force as a first step, council envoys said. But the diplomats did not expect council authorisation this month when US Ambassador John Bolton holds the rotating presidency of the 15-member body.

Oct 3, 2005 Message to Sudan: What happened to Tony Blair's 5-point plan?



Photo: British PM Tony Blair in Khartoum, October 2004: the first visit to Sudan by a British leader since Sudan gained its independence from Britain in 1956. See Oct 6, 2004 Blair arrives in Khartoum to press for Darfur peace - Blair outlines demands to Sudan.