U.N. official seeks more aid for Africa

UNITED NATIONS – A senior U.N. official on the new British-backed Commission for Africa expressed hope Thursday that Britain’s prime minister can convince other leaders to double or triple their development assistance to the world’s poorest continent.

Anna Tibaijuka, head of the U.N. Human Settlements Program and one of nine Africans on the 17-member Commission for Africa, said the African members will focus on increasing assistance to developing countries.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has made tackling African poverty a key priority for Britain’s presidency of the G-8, the world’s leading industrial powers. Nations have agreed to provide 0.7 percent of their gross national income for development assistance. But so far, only five countries have met or surpassed the target – Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. Six others have committed to reach the target by 2015 – Belgium, Finland, France, Ireland, Spain and Britain. But 11 of the 22 richest donors, according to the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, are far from the target and have not set timetables to reach it – including the United States, Japan and Germany.