The chairperson of the African Union, TanzanianJakayaKikwete, urges the world not to cut back on aid to Africa. His call comesamidst a global financial crisis that threatens to curtail assistance todeveloping countries. President Kikwete told the AU that African leaders are concerned aboutskyrocketing oil and food prices, and about the possibility that money used tobail out western banks could weaken financial commitments made to Africa.
ElizabethStuartheads OXFAM's public relations efforts at the IMF and World Bank.She told VOA reporter Kim Lewis, "Cutting aid needs to be absolutely the lastresort taken by the developed world right now. Even at a time of their own financial crisis. If you think back to when we had the last globally financialdownturn, kind of 1990 to 1993, we saw donors cut aid by 25%."
Stuart says if this were to happenthis time round at a time when poor countries are also being hit by their ownfood price crisis as well, this could "really spell disaster for developingcountries, so this absolutely needs to be the very last thing that they do."