G8 Representatives Pleased With Meeting in Accra

The G8 Personal Representatives for Africa held their eighth meeting in Accra, on December 7 and 8. The Representatives came together to renew the G8's ongoing commitment to the Africa Action Plan, to discuss key agenda issues and to build on the progress achieved since the June 2002 Kananaskis Summit.

"The Personnel Representatives for Africa were very pleased with their meeting in Accra," the Canadian High Commissioner, H.E Jean-Pierre Bolduc said. "They had fruitful interactions with officials from the Government of Ghana, their counterparts from the NePAD Steering Committee, civil society and representatives of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre."

Announced at the Genoa Summit in 2001, the group of Personal Representatives for Africa was mandated to work with African Leaders to develop a G8 action plan in response to the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NePAD). The ambitious Africa Action Plan was released at the G8 Summit last June in Kananaskis, in Western Canada.

While in Accra, the G8 representatives were provided the opportunity for face-to-face discussions with representatives of the NePAD Steering Committee, which is headed by the Chair, Professor Wiseman Nkuhlu of South Africa.

"The location of the meeting in Accra was not a coincidence," explained High Commissioner Bolduc.

"The G8 representatives chose to hold this meeting in Ghana in recognition of the significant strides it has achieved with regard to its democratic development. Moreover the G8 Representatives wanted to congratulate Ghana for being one of the first countries to volunteer itself for the African Peer Review Mechanism."

The African peer-review process is an innovative element contained in the NePAD. Within this partnership, African leaders pledge to the people of Africa to promote peace, security and people-centred development, and to consolidate democracy and sound economic management. Through the peer-review process, African leaders will undertake to hold each other responsible and accountable for realizing the objectives set out in the NePAD.

The meeting in Accra was headed by the current Chair of the group, the Canadian Prime Minister's Personal Representative, Ambassador Robert Fowler. Next January, the Chair of the G8, which rotates on a calendar-year basis amongst the members, will be handed over to France.