国际英语新闻：Group of Eight concludes Muskoka summit, reaffirms own essential role

HUNTSVILLE, Canada, June 26 (Xinhua) -- The Group of Eight (G8) concluded its 2010 annual summit here on Saturday after issuing a declaration about its shared views and approaches for major global challenges, and reaffirmed its own essential role in international affairs.

"We had a very successful summit. We have refocused the G8 on its strength, development, peace and of course global security challenges," said Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the G8 rotating president for the year and also chair of the current summit, at a closing press conference.

In the declaration issued upon the summit's conclusion, the G8 said that its annual summit this year took place as "the world begins a fragile recovery from the greatest economic crisis in generations."

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks at his closing news conference at the G8 Summit at the Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville, Ontario, Canada, June 26, 2010.

The summit, which drew leaders of the world's eight major industrialized countries, the European Union and 10 selected African and Latin American developing countries to the tranquil and picturesque Canadian region of Muskoka, covered a wide range of topics from the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and food security to climate change and support for Africa, as well as many complex issues of international peace and stability.

As one of the major achievements of the summit, the G8 leaders formally endorsed and launched the Muskoka Initiative, aimed at improving maternal, newborn and child health globally.

According to the Muskoka Declaration, the G8 has undertaken to mobilize 5 billion U.S. dollars of additional funding for the Initiative over the next five years, while other partner countries and foundations have committed to additional funding of 2.3 billion dollars to be disbursed over the same period.

The initiative is expected to significantly reduce the number of maternal, newborn and under-five child deaths in developing countries, and help accelerate progress toward the MDGs, said the G8 leaders.

In another fresh step, the G8 launched a Muskoka Accountability Report, in a bid to increase transparency on the implementation of its own commitments, something the group said all international organizations and forums should do.

"We welcome the Muskoka Accountability Report: Assessing action and results against development-related commitments and will ensure follow up on its conclusions and recommendations," said the summit Declaration, adding that the Accountability reporting in 2011 will focus on health and food security.

This year's G8 summit was widely seen as a key prelude to the Fourth Summit of the Group of 20 (G20), slated to begin in Canada' s largest city Toronto -- about 2.5 hours of car ride from Huntsville -- in just a few hours. And it is the first time for the G8 and G20 summits to be held back to back in one country.