Campaigners and foreign governments are pressing the British Labour Government to increase sharply the overseas aid budget, saying it represents a critical test of the UKs desire to assume moral leadership in the campaign to help the worlds poorest countries, reports the World Bank in its press review Wednesday
A coalition of non-governmental organizations, including Oxfam, Save the Children and Christian Aid, say that in the forthcoming spending round the UK should set a date for reaching the international target of spending 0,7 percent of national income on aid. Although it signed up in principle to the 0,7 percent target decades ago, the UK gave 0,34 percent in aid last year.
So far the Treasury has promised only to reach 0,4 percent by 2006. Gordon Brown, the chancellor, is trying to persuade other countries to sign up to his proposed “international finance facility”, a scheme to front-load aid by issuing special bonds to borrow against future official aid flows.
The Treasury declined to say whether the proportion of gross domestic product earmarked for international aid in the years up to 2007-08, the period covered by the spending round, would be increased.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
