Weak leadership by the Italian host, Prime Minister Berlusconi, has resulted in very few concrete new initiatives for the world's poor at the G8 Summit that ended today. Having cut its aid spending by 56% this year, Italy lacked the moral authority or will to address the challenges posed by the economic, climate change and food crises.

These crises threaten to reverse the progress that has been made in reducing global poverty and achieving the Millennium Development Goals. This is a shame because the change in the U.S. administration and President Obama's personal interest in global poverty issues had opened up new possibilities for the G8 to deliver more. We need to work to ensure that next year, when Canada hosts the G8, that our government provides strong leadership on initiatives to help the world’s poor.