Agencies step up pressure for aid increase
-19/3/04
Christian Aid is stepping up the pressure on the Chancellor Gordon Brown to increase spending o
Agencies step up pressure for aid increase
-19/3/04
Christian Aid is stepping up the pressure on the Chancellor Gordon Brown to increase spending on overseas aid.
Over thirty years ago, the worldís richer countries agreed to spend 0.7% of their annual income on international aid.
The Labour Party also included this commitment as a manifesto pledge before the 1997 general election. However the Labour government has still not met that target.
The theological think tank Ekklesia has pointed out that Government spending on the UKís own needs in such areas as defence, education and social security comes to approximately 40% of national income. This makes the Governmentís apparent inability to spend just 0.7% of national income on the rest of the world all the more embarrassing.
The ìLove of neighbourî principle which extends beyond national borders, says the think-tank, suggests that at the very least a radical re-ordering of priorities is required when it comes to Government spending.
Increasing the aid budget by just a fraction could save millions of lives say aid agencies. With HIV spreading across the developing world and more than one billion people denied access to clean water, the need for increased aid has never been more pressing.
Over the next few weeks, the UK government will be having discussions about whether to increase the amount of money the UK spends on international aid, as part of its comprehensive spending review, which will report in the summer.
Along with other leading charities, Christian Aid is calling on Gordon Brown to increase the UK’s spending on aid to 0.7% of UK annual income by 2008.
Agencies step up pressure for aid increase
-19/3/04
Christian Aid is stepping up the pressure on the Chancellor Gordon Brown to increase spending on overseas aid.
Over thirty years ago, the worldís richer countries agreed to spend 0.7% of their annual income on international aid.
The Labour Party also included this commitment as a manifesto pledge before the 1997 general election. However the Labour government has still not met that target.
The theological think tank Ekklesia has pointed out that Government spending on the UKís own needs in such areas as defence, education and social security comes to approximately 40% of national income. This makes the Governmentís apparent inability to spend just 0.7% of national income on the rest of the world all the more embarrassing.
The ìLove of neighbourî principle which extends beyond national borders, says the think-tank, suggests that at the very least a radical re-ordering of priorities is required when it comes to Government spending.
Increasing the aid budget by just a fraction could save millions of lives say aid agencies. With HIV spreading across the developing world and more than one billion people denied access to clean water, the need for increased aid has never been more pressing.
Over the next few weeks, the UK government will be having discussions about whether to increase the amount of money the UK spends on international aid, as part of its comprehensive spending review, which will report in the summer.
Along with other leading charities, Christian Aid is calling on Gordon Brown to increase the UK’s spending on aid to 0.7% of UK annual income by 2008.