On the first day of the summit the G8 heads of state and government met in the Enlarged Dialogue format involving the heads of some non-G8 countries and international organizations.
The main topics discussed were the problems of developing countries, the participation of the international community in addressing the problems of poverty, and improvement of healthcare and education.
A meeting was held with the participants in the NEPAD (New Partnership for African Development) to consider the problems of the development of the African continent.
Russia is directly involved in UN peace-keeping operations in which about 200 Russian peace-keepers take part. Russian-made helicopters with Russian crews are being used successfully. Russia is making a concrete contribution to the financial rehabilitation of the poorest African countries. As part of its commitments to the G8 it restructured and wrote off more than $11 billion in debts owed by African countries. In accordance with the Genoa Summit decisions Russia has contributed to the formation of an international anti-HIV fund.
During the meeting Vladimir Putin noted that Russia was ready to make its contribution to providing developing countries with drinking water. Moscow attaches great significance to providing educational and medical help to developing countries. Hundreds of students from the poorest countries of the world are studying in Russia under government grants.
The first day of the summit also saw a discussion of economic development trends and the development of international economic and trade organizations.
The delegations of Algeria, Brazil, Egypt, India, Nigeria, China, Malaysia, Morocco, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Switzerland and South Africa have been invited to the summit.
Also present in Evian are UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, World Bank President James Wolfensohn, IMF Managing Director Horst Keller and WTO Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi.