World Vision campaigners in final push to ensure Britain fulfils its pledge on life-saving aid for the poor

Today Geeta, our Policy Manager, tells us why we’re so grateful for your support on the Enough Food for Everyone IF campaign.

By Geeta Bandi-Phillips, Policy Manager, World Vision UK

Thank you all for the great support you have shown by emailing, writing and visiting your MP in support of the IF campaign and for asking the UK Government to keep its promises on aid.

The moment of truth is near us with the Budget on 20th March. For millions of mothers without access to health care facilities, and children without clean water to drink, the decision the Chancellor makes this week on aid is literally a matter of life and death.

We feel absolutely blessed and invigorated by your unwavering backup and support.

This has been a long road. In 1969, at the urging of charities and of the World Council of Churches, governments agreed to give 0.7% of their national income to help people in the poorest countries. Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Luxembourg have met the target. Now, after more than 40 years, the UK could be about to fulfil its promise too.

This is a cause that unites people across the political dividing lines. At the last election, all three major parties in the UK made a commitment to meet the aid pledge. This year the UK has the chance not only to meet the target but be the first G8 country to achieve it. The combination of financial clout and moral high ground will help the UK to press others to follow suit.

In tough economic times some ask whether we can afford aid. But 0.7% is a very small share of what we have, less than a penny in the pound. Others ask whether aid really works. Yes it does. Research by the UK Aid Network showed that in the last year alone British aid:

• Saved six million lives by providing emergency food assistance
• Helped detect and treat 900,000 cases of tuberculosis while working with partners like the Global Fund
• Supported 26 African countries to agree the Africa Free Trade Area to enable economic growth
• Secured peace and strengthened good governance by supporting freer and fairer elections in five countries for 76 million people

By keeping its promises on aid, Britain will:

• Help 15.9 million children get an education
• Help stop 10 million people going hungry

In the last 20 years global aid has helped cut the number of deaths of children under five across by more than a third. It has helped extreme poverty to be halved from 47% in 1990 to 24% in 2008.  Over two billion people have gained access to better water sources between 1990 and 2010.

Huge progress has been made in the world’s poorest countries. But there is still work to do. A billion people still live in extreme poverty, and aid is a crucial part of the solution. If rich countries stopped aid, the impact could be the deaths of 5 million people due to hunger and ill health. But by delivering on our aid promise, we can help people get themselves out of poverty, and help poor countries develop their economies so that in time they will no longer need aid.

Time to roll up our sleeves and finish what we have begun. Let’s make sure David Cameron and George Osborne keep their promise to the world’s poor.