04 July 2005

Steve Tibbett, head of policy at ActionAid UK: "Whilst the UK government has placed Africa at the centre of this G8, there is still no sign of a deal that will allow real change. Partial debt relief, a modest step forward on aid and some fine words on trade represent no more than tinkering around the edges. If a better deal is not brokered in the next couple of days the credibility of Tony Blair and the other G8 leaders will be in tatters."

Ivy Maina from Kenya has travelled 12,000 km across Africa in ActionAid’s Jo’burg to G8 bus. On Saturday she met Gordon Brown to ask him what promise she could take back to the thousands of Africans who gave her their personal messages for G8 leaders. She says: "This is a unique opportunity. Africans are speaking out and are ready for change. From the farmer in Kenya unable to make a living, to the mother in Malawi who knows she will die without Aids drugs, expectations for this summit are high. Without a breakthrough, lives will be lost and the hopes of another generation of Africans will be dashed."