The Issue
Every year, the leaders of the world's richest countries, including Canada, gather at the G8 Summit to discuss the most pressing issues facing our planet. This May's G8 will meet in France. At G8 Summits, Presidents and Prime Ministers make collective commitments to fight poverty, promote peace and security, and tackle crises.

But promises must lead to action; G8 leaders should be held to account for their promises to the world's poor. At the 2005 G8 in Gleneagles, leaders made historic commitments to meet the Millennium Development Goals, including the promise to double aid to Sub-Saharan Africa by 2010. But by 2010, while G8 countries had given about $13.7 billion more development assistance, this was only 61% of the promised amount. Other recent commitments waiting to be kept include:

• The 2009 G8 announced the L'Aquila Food Security Initiative in response to the global food crisis. Countries collectively pledged $22 billion. As part of this, Canada announced an additional $600 million in aid for agriculture by 2011. Canada is the only G8 country to have met its L'Aquila target.
• The 2010 G8 announced the Muskoka Initiative for Women's and Children's Health, pledging $5 billion to save the lives of 1.3 million children and 64,000 women threatened by deadly but preventable illnesses in poor countries. Canada pledged its share of $1.1 billion and has made several announcements about how the money will be spent.

In response to growing calls for G8 leaders to keep their promises, the G8 published its first ever annual Accountability Report last year. This report looked at money given and highlighted successful programs that received G8 funding.

The 2010 Accountability Report was a great start. But people around the world still want to know not only if the promised money was delivered, but how that money is being spent and what results it is achieving. Canadians, Cambodians and Kenyans alike deserve to know how G8 money is impacting the lives of people living in poverty.

What World Vision is doing
World Vision will be at the 2011 G8 in France, where we will call on Canada, as a leader within the G8, to promote a broader understanding of accountability; in other words, from now on, G8 Accountability Reports should explain what money is being given where and what outcomes (better health, improved nutrition, fewer children dying) those funds are achieving.

We believe that a positive first step would be for G8 leaders to publicly support and act on the recommendations of the new WHO Accountability Commission. This Commission is coming up with ways to make global efforts for children's and women's health more accountable, transparent and effective.

Finally, given the current state of global food prices and Canada's fulfillment of its L'Aquila commitment, we are also asking Canada to, at a minimum, keep funding agriculture and food security at current levels of $1.2 billion over three years and consider increasing funding in the near future.

What you can do

• Write to the Prime Minister to say what you think Canada should do at this year's G8.
• Read up on what G8 leaders, including Canada, have committed to and if they have fulfilled their promises.
• Follow the news of this year's G8 throughout May.