Act Now to fulfill Ireland’s promise to the worlds poorest. The campaign issued a press release following budget 2013 on 5 December 2012. Read it here.
Act Now on 2015 is a civil society campaign in Ireland led by over 60 NGOs (including NYCI) to cement the Irish Government’s commitment to spend 0.7% of GNI on overseas development aid by 2015. This means just 70 cent in every €100 of the Irish government’s budget should be spent on Official Development Assistance (ODA) which goes to the world’s poorest. Overseas aid represents less than 1% of government expenditure.
Why?
• The Irish Government signed up to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in September 2000, as world leaders came together to promise to do all they can to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by 2015. In support of the MDGs, Ireland pledged to increase its overseas aid (Official Development Assistance – ODA), to reach the UN target of spending 0.7% of national income on overseas aid. The government has promised to do this by 2015. We need to keep this promise.
• As the total amount is a percentage of national income rather than an absolute amount, the sum of money involved reduces automatically if the economy shrinks. Remember it’s just 70 cent in every €100 we spend. We can afford this aid.
Why Act Now?
• However, in 2009, the Irish government cut overseas aid from €921 million to €718 million. The projected expenditure for 2010 is to be cut down to €693 million. This represents a cut of almost 25% to the ODA budget which is far more than cuts in other areas. This makes it even harder to reach the goal of 0.7% of our income by 2015. The Act Now on 2015 campaign is encouraging the government to keep its aid promise.
• 2010 is a focus year for the MDGs. We need to call for the UN Summit in September this year to deliver an ambitious action plan for the achievement of the MDGs and we should reference the important role that Ireland and the EU will play in this process.
What can you do?
• Visit the Act Now on 2015 website to find out more information.
• Follow the campaign on Facebook and Twitter – look for Act Now on 2015 http://actnow2015.ie/
