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37th G8 summit Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.
37th G8 summit facts for kids
Traditional "family photo" at the G8 summit meeting in Deauville
The 37th G8 summit was held 26–27 May 2011 in the commune of Deauville in France.
Contents
History
The Deauville summit of the Group of Eight (G8) was the 37th meeting in a series which began in 1976.
Previous G8 summits have been hosted by France at Rambouillet (1975); Versailles (1982); Paris (1989); Lyon (1996); and Évian-les-Bains (2003).
The G8 and the summit are part of a consultation process. The G8 is not an international organization. It is an informal group.
Participants
G8 leaders walk to the first working session at summit in Deauville. Pictured, from left are: European Commission President Barroso; US President Obama; French President Sarkozy; Canadian Prime Minister Harper; Japanese Prime Minister Kan; German Chancellor Merkel; and British Prime Minister Cameron.
These summit participants were the current "core members" of the G8:
| Core G8 members Host nation and leader are indicated in bold text. |
|||
| Member | Represented by | Title | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Canada | Stephen Harper | Prime Minister |
 |
France | Nicolas Sarkozy | President |
 |
Germany | Angela Merkel | Chancellor |
 |
Italy | Silvio Berlusconi | Prime Minister |
 |
Japan | Naoto Kan | Prime Minister |
 |
Russia | Dmitry Medvedev | President |
 |
United Kingdom | David Cameron | Prime Minister |
 |
United States | Barack Obama | President |
 |
European Commission | Jose Manuel Barroso | President |
| European Council | Herman Van Rompuy | President | |
Invited leaders
Other national leaders are traditionally invited to attend the summit. They participate in some, but not all, G8 summit activities. African leaders who came to Deauville included:
Algeria Abdelaziz Bouteflika, President
Egypt Essam Sharaf, Prime Minister
Ethiopia Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister
Equatorial Guinea Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President
Senegal Abdoulaye Wade, President
South Africa Jacob Zuma, President
Tunisia Beji Caid el Sebsi, Prime Minister
Also invited were:
- Arab League Amr Moussa, Chairman
- African Union (AU) Jean Ping, Chairman
- New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD)
- United Nations Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General
Schedule and Agenda
Traditionally, the host country of the G8 summit sets the agenda. French general priorities included peace and security.
Discussions included some issues which remained unresolved from previous summits.
Some of the specific topics on the agenda were:
- Afghanistan;
- G8 + Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA);
- The Internet: new challenges
- Non-proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction
- The G8's Partnership with Africa
- Transatlantic Cocaine Trafficking
- Counter-terrorism
- G8 political and security issues
World events caused the list of topics to grow, including
- Fukushima nuclear accident
- European debt crisis
- Selection of a new managing director for the International Monetary Fund
Protesters and demonstrations
Protest groups and others organized public events. In these demonstrations, the slogan G8 dégage ("G8 Go Away") was notable.
The demonstrators are widely understood to be against globalisation.
Business opportunity
According to the Mayor of Deauville, "Our main interest is the economic implications."
For some, the G8 summit became a profit-generating event. For example, the G8 Summit magazines have been published under the auspices of the host nations for distribution to all attendees since 1998.
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