WORLD POVERTY GOALS – ACTION URGENT AS FIRST DEADLINE APPROACHES, SAYS Oona King MP

Oona King MP meets with ministers to pledge Bethnal Green and Bow’s support for finance plan to meet poverty pledges

Oona King MP met with Chancellor Gordon Brown and Hilary Benn, the Secretary of State for International Development, to pledge her support for a finance plan that would help achieve targets on tackling world poverty.

Oona King MP said, “It is more important than ever that the international community makes faster progress in reducing world poverty. Next year is the first deadline for meeting the historic pledges that the international community made to mark the millennium. Without urgent action, we will fall at the first hurdle.

“People in my have campaigned vigorously for debt relief, education, health and fair trade for people in the poorest countries for many years. Their conviction, shared by so many people around the world, led to the historic adoption of the Millennium Development Goals. The first test of that commitment comes next year. We already know that target is going to be missed. At the current rate of progress we will not achieve what we committed on education until 2129, and not achieve what we committed on health until 2165. That is not good enough.”

“That is why I am pledging our support for an International Finance Facility, proposed by the Labour Government, which would double the amount of aid for debt relief and development. Such a finance plan would leverage in extra money from the international capital markets to raise the amount of development aid from $50 billion a year to $100 billion per year. Most important, would give us real hope and a real chance to keep our promises andI am calling on churches, voluntary organisations, businesses and trade unions to throw their weight behind the proposal for the International Finance Facility.

Ms King is calling on the government to use the UK’s G8 Presidency next year to priorities international development.

“On behalf of campaigners in my constituency I am calling on the Government to use the UK’s G8 Presidency as a Development Presidency. The international community must redouble its efforts to keep the promises made on our behalf to the poorest people of the world. The Millennium Development Goals are truly profound and transformative. Now the governments of the richest countries must demonstrate that they have the will to match such profound intentions with action. Our government must lead the way.”