Targeted aid is getting good results in Africa, but the G8 are falling further behind on meeting their commitments, a new report from the organisation set up by U2 frontman Bono, has said.

The news announced yesterday that the government's overseas aid spending will increase by almost 17% a year to form a new record high has been welcomed by overseas development groups.

A report published by the new BBC trust today is critical of some programmes for allowing celebrity-backed anti-poverty groups to appear in entertainment shows. Their backers say this reflects reality, an is an antidote to comercialism.

Thousands of campaigners of all ages descended on central London on Saturday, 2 June, to send the UK Prime Minister a clear message: the world can't wait, make aid work!

With the G8 summit only one month away, the Pope has backed a call from a worldwide delegation of bishops to put poverty at the heart of the agenda.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor has led an international delegation to 10 Downing Street to remind Tony Blair of Britain’s commitment to the G8 pledges made at Gleneagles.

The world's richest nations have been accused of foot-dragging over aid pledges to Africa made during the Make Poverty History campaign.

Leaders of G8 countries must take the next steps to meet their commitments to end extreme poverty and stop AIDS' devastation in the developing world, Christian aid agency World Vision has said in a paper released for this week's meeting of government development ministers.

Campaigners across England and Wales are gearing up to put pressure the G8 to take urgent action over poverty, when it meets in June.

A national grassroots campaign mounted by Jubilee USA, the international humanitarian agency, Church World Service (the ecumenical Christian relief network) and allied organizations is urging Americans to send Valentine's Day wishes to US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, asking him to have a heart and cancel Liberia's 3.5 billion dollar debt.