| Make sure G8 debt promises are kept |
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 The G8 proposals on debt and aid represent serious progress, but the devil may still peer out of the details during its implementation. It is essential we all scrutinise them closely, as Mark Curtis does (Comment, August 23). He is right to point out the obfuscation in the OECD's method for counting debt and aid into an overall development assistance number, mixing both the ongoing aid flows with the bookkeeping of debt relief, as if they were equal parts.
As a result, qualified countries whose debt is cancelled will see an increase in resources - but not a full 100% increase because they'll be sharing that 100% with other poor countries not included in the debt deal. Donors get too much credit for some debt transactions. They should only be credited for the part of the debt deals which free up money for fighting poverty. The rules must be changed and donors charged with providing a transparent account of their delivery, just as the same transparency is demanded of recipients' use of those funds. But Curtis is incorrect in his portrayal of the G8 debt deal, which met three important criteria on paper - additionality, so there is more money to fight poverty; policy clarity, so getting rid of the cycle of lending and forgiving; and no new onerous conditionality. True, there are details in the deal which have always been there and live in the nature of deal-making. For example, that the additional money donors have agreed to contribute to finance the debt deal will be shared among all poor countries and not just those countries that are part of the deal. The deal is not perfect. It should be implemented more quickly, conditionalities should be reduced, and it should be expanded. But first it has to be finalised by the shareholders of the IMF and the World Bank. Keeping an eye on making sure the promises are kept, and securing better promises on debt, aid and trade is now the job of global civil society. The next key moments are the UN world summit and IMF- World Bank meetings this month and the WTO in December. Throughout, the G8 and, above all, Tony Blair must continue to show leadership in implementation, not just summiteering. Jamie Drummond Executive director, Data This article appears courtesy of the The Guardian Newspaper
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