Bono’s doubts about Italy leading the G8

“Robin Hood vs Robin Hood” is the term that the Italian press has coined to describe the clash between Bono Vox, champion of the world’s poor and Italian minister for the economy Giulio Tremonti, in charge of post-elections Italy’s financial programme nicknamed the Robin Hood Tax.

“It is hard to see how Berlusconi and the Italian government can consider itself a world leader when they are thinking of drastically cutting the funds promised to the world’s poorest”, said Jamie Drummond, executive director of the NGO founded by Bono Vox and Bob Geldof to help the world’s poor, Data.org. Drummond reminds us that only a few weeks ago, at the FAO summit held in Rome, the neo-prime minister said he “wanted to bring an end to world hunger”. Data.org now calls on Italy not to “implement this drastic cut in resources” and hopes that “morality and common sense will prevail”.

The plans to cut public aid to development are contained within three lines of the Robin Hood Tax’s document, the Dpef (Documento di programmazione economico finanziaria). The 11th comma of article n.60 states that as of 2009 public aid to development will be decreased to 170 million euros per year. Which, according to Italian development NGOs (ActionAid, Wwf, Cini, Cocis), is a disastrous measure that will almost halve Italy’s contribution to aid.

NGOs: How can Italy lead the G8 summit?

“Cuts in resources threaten to bring an end to Italy’s development and external aid” said Marco De Ponte, ActionAid Italy’s general secretary. “This drastic measure, that halves Italian public aid to development will mean that in 2011 there will only be 393 million euros available”. ActionAid also highlights that Italy only gives 750 million euros more than the European required minimum to be destined to external development: “If the Government doesn’t demonstrate coherence between its international commitments and its measures”, said De Ponte, “by 2009’s G8 meeting it will not have the international legitimacy to lead the summit”. A view that is shared by other NGOs – ActionAid, Amref, Save the Children, Terre des Hommes, Vis and Wwf – who wrote an open letter to the government asking for the cut in resources to be cancelled.