More aid

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.

More aid is essential for developing countries to effectively fight poverty. Rich countries have promised this aid, but the vast majority of it has never been delivered to those who need it.

In 1970, aid donors agreed to provide 0.7% of their gross national income (GNI) in aid. More than 30 years later, only 5 donors have hit this target. On average, aid donors only gave 0.33% of their national income in aid in 2005, far below the 0.7% they have promised. If all donors were to hit the 0.7% target, it has been estimated that almost half a billion people could be lifted out of poverty by 2015.

When it is good quality, aid to developing countries can drastically improve people's futures. Donors have given significant, long term funding to the edication system in Zambia, where an additional 5,000 teachers have been employed and children out of school have dropped from one third to 18%.

ActionAid works to lobby donor governments to meet the 0.7% target. Recent successes include a commitment from the UK government to meet the target by 2013, and from most other EU governments to reach it by 2015. We will keep up the pressure on all donor governments by pushing them to set clear and binding timetables for this funding. We will also be pushing for more aid to be ‘Real Aid’ – effective aid that works to benefit the poorest.

photo : ©Liba Taylor/ ActionAid UK