Introduction

With more than 1 billion people around the world still living in extreme poverty, it is clear that aid from NGOs such as ActionAid alone will not be enough to eradicate poverty.  The governments of rich countries have promised to give enough aid to do this, but the vast majority has never been delivered.

In 1970, the governments of rich countries agreed to give 0.7% of their national incomes in international aid. More than 30 years later, only 5 countries have hit this target and the latest figures show that on average, countries give only 0.26%.

The UN estimates that if all rich countries were to even go part way to this target and spend around 0.5% of their income on aid, half a billion people could be lifted out of poverty by 2015.

As well as giving more, government aid needs to be better quality - so that a greater proportion reaches the poorest communities.  At the moment, too much aid is designed to further the political and economic interests of donor countries, rather than tackling poverty in the most effective, or even cheapest way. 

Rich countries give a lot of their aid through international institutions such as the IMF and World Bank – which they ultimately control. 

The policies these institutions promote have a huge impact on the lives of poor people in developing countries – yet they have little control over them.  For example, the conditions or 'strings' attached to aid mean that poor countries are compelled to alter their economic policies and privatise key services.

These conditions have often done more harm than good - particularly for the poorest people.   

photo : ©Gideon Mendel/Corbis/ActionAid