00.7's untapped License to kill poverty

Salt shakers
April 2004

00.7's untapped License to kill poverty
Relief and development advocates from the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development were among 10 James Bond look-alikes who handed over a 'Licence to Kill Poverty' at a March 25 demonstration in London. The protestors offered this revised license at the offices of the Great Britain's Treasury in a bid to increase the nation's aid budget for developing countries. CAFOD wants the government to raise aid spending from its current level of 0.3 per cent of income to 0.7—a promise made in 1970, which Britain has failed to keep.

The United Kingdom spends just 3 pence of every £10 it earns on overseas aid, according to CAFOD. The group's director, Chris Bain, said: "This is just not good enough. . . . All we're asking the government to do is to honor the promise made over 30 years ago. If they don't do this, they’ll condemn millions of people around the world to a life of poverty. And the aim of achieving the universally agreed Millennium Development Goals to halve world poverty by 2015 will be put at risk.

"I believe Tony Blair and Gordon Brown when they say they are committed to fighting global injustice and poverty. It would be a powerful message to other world leaders if they raised Britain's aid budget to 0.7 percent of UK income."

Aid agencies are calling on Chancellor Gordon Brown to commit to a timetable to spend 0.7 percent of government income on overseas aid. CAFOD charges that progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals has been dismal. Organizations in the United States have similarly complained that the lofty rhetoric about meeting millennium goals have not been accompanied by budget commitments.

The first goal—to ensure equal access for girls to education by 2005—will be missed. The health target for a two-thirds reduction in child deaths will be 150 years too late for millions of children who will continue to die from preventable diseases like diarrhoea and pneumonia.

The campaign follows Tony Blair's launch of the Commission on Africa and the Chancellor’s call for rich countries to back his proposal for an International Finance Facility to double aid.

Agencies believe that reaching 0.7 per cent would be a strong international signal of the government’s commitment to increase aid and would therefore give the IFF a much greater chance of success.

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