Call to play harder to meet aid obligations

Party leaders and MPs around the country are getting oranges and a half-time pep talk this weekend in a bid to get New Zealand on track to meeting our international aid obligations.

The 7th of July marks the ‘half-time’ point of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), eight internationally-agreed targets for reducing global poverty by 2015. New Zealanders will be visiting their local MPs with oranges and coaching advice to help the government to do better.

The MDGs – a set of specific targets agreed to at the turn of the new century – include halving the estimated 1.2 billion people living on less than US$1 a day, ensuring that all children get a primary education and reversing the spread of diseases such as HIV/AIDs and malaria.

“We’re half way to the MDG deadline, yet our aid level, at 0.3 percent of our Gross National Income, is still well below the level needed if we’re to get on track to reach the 0.7 percent target in aid by 2015,” says Council for International Development Executive Director, Rae Julian.

“The MDGs will not succeed unless developed countries such as New Zealand uphold their aid promises. We need to play harder and make up some ground in the second half,” she says.

“While Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters announced an increase in this year’s aid budget, we still have a long way to go to meet our international goals and promises.”

She says most New Zealanders support the government giving aid to reduce poverty in poor countries and says there is a growing awareness and support for our country to meet the 0.7 percent goal. The Labour-led coalition government has committed to getting New Zealand’s aid level to at least 0.35 percent by 2010. Ms Julian says it is concerning that National has not yet given any international aid commitment.

Half of New Zealand’s aid goes to the Pacific and is targeted to help those in the worst poverty.

“There is extreme poverty in parts of Melanesia. For example, maternal mortality is a key indicator of a country’s general healthcare and a woman in Papua New Guinea is 40 times as likely to die in, during or after childbirth as a woman in New Zealand.”

Not only does aid help people in poor countries to get out of poverty, it also provides benefits to the developed world by promoting long-lasting global security.

ENDS

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