Category: World
Service
Date: 15.10.2004
Printable version
A comprehensive
plan for Africa must go beyond the old donor/recipient relationship
to bring all the different issues together on the basis of partnerships
in countries and the developing world, according to Prime Minister Tony
Blair.
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He was taking part in the first 2015 Debate on world
poverty, part of a Â鶹Éç World Service Trust initiative to chart progress
toward the Millennium Development Goal of reducing global poverty by
the year 2015.
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The debate will be broadcast on Â鶹Éç World on Saturday
16 October.
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This debate occurs in the lead-up to World No Poverty
Day on 17 October and the release of A Song for Africa, performed by
18 African musicians from throughout the continent, on 18 October.
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This is the first time well known African musicians
have combined forces in response to an appeal launched by the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to compose and perform a song aimed
at involving everyone in Africa in the fight against poverty and HIV/AIDS.
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In his first major pronouncement on Africa since returning
from Ethiopia last week, Tony Blair said: "I think the advantages
of the Commission on Africa are to try to bring all the different issues
together, not just deal with debt and aid but with debt and aid and
trade, conflict resolution and governance, HIV/Aids and the major health
issues and try to pull together so that there's a comprehensive plan
for Africa.
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"The second thing is to do it very much on the
basis of partnerships in countries and the developing world – not
the old donor/recipient relationship – those are the two advantages
of the communications approach."
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However, unless there was agreement and commitment at
international level to a coherent plan for Africa, nothing was going
to happen, he warned.
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"I don't think I can persuade leaders of other
countries on my own, but I think I can if it's clear the African nations
themselves are up to it and want to lead the change in their own countries
if they're given the help and removal of obstacles to do it - if Africans
were given the instruments in their hands to progress, they'd make progress
and that's what we have to do. This isn't simply about the generosity
of the developed world to Africa."
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Notes to Editors
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The 2015 debate is part of a wider 2015 – Where
Will We Be? initiative developed by Â鶹Éç World Service Trust to raise
the profile of development issues, enable individuals around the world
to express their views and tell their own stories and create an informed
debate about the issues among a diverse global audience.
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Â鶹Éç World Service Trust was established by the Â鶹Éç
World Service as a registered charity in 1999 to alleviate poverty through
the innovative use of media in the developing world.
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The trust currently works in more than 20 countries,
tackling health, education and good governance.
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It has produced ground-breaking projects in some of
the world's poorest countries, increasing the capacity of local and
national media, building civil society, providing training in media
skills and developing health and educational campaigns.
