The impact of the economic crisis on developing countries and the inter-sectoral approach to sustainable development are the focus of the G8 Development Ministerial taking place at the Foreign Ministry in Rome on 11 and 12 June 2009. The Meeting is being opened with a speech by Minister Frattini, who says that “An enlarged G8 open to emerging countries and to our African partners, as well as to the principal multilateral donors, is and remains an essential forum to continue to discuss development issues and find solutions that in the long-term will enable developing countries to emerge from the crisis”.
The Minister recalled that Italy, as current G8 President, has decided for the July summit to extent the traditional Heiligendamm format (the five emerging economies, Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa) to include Egypt. It was also Italy’s decision to invite the African Union and NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa’s Development) to the Development Ministerial. The Minister gave an assurance that “Africa will occupy a key role and have an opportunity to air its views at Rome, as at the summit in L’Aquila”.
The second aim of the Ministerial is to find an integrated approach to sustainable development by addressing issues such as education, health, food security and water. For Frattini we need to “find new ways to harmonise development initiatives and make them more coherent”. Also needed is “an accountability framework, to define the interconnections between climate change, major migrations and sustainable development”.