YA' GOTTA WANT IT :

G-8 nations pledge aid to Africa : Plan hinges on effort by African leaders for democracy, reform (Colin Nickerson, 6/28/2002, Boston Globe)

The heads of the world's wealthiest nations yesterday pledged a ''new beginning'' for inhabitants of the earth's poorest continent, signing a historic agreement to increase development aid by billions of dollars in return for a commitment from African leaders to eliminate corruption, despotism, and human rights abuses.

The pledge, made at the close of a two-day summit of the Group of Eight leading industrialized democracies, marked the first time that aid to the beleaguered nations of sub-Saharan Africa has been made contingent on promises by African leaders to take responsibility for economic and political reform. Supporters called it a turning point in relations between Africa and rich donor nations, while critics dismissed the agreement as empty rhetoric--noting that the G-8 nations failed to make hard commitments on promises of new cash.

If we keep this up, people may get the impression that we're serious about reform. Posted by Orrin Judd at June 28, 2002 8:24 AM