Category: Aid
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Questions grow over DfID’s ‘ring-fenced’ budget
Rumours over the security of DfID’s budget have been mounting over the last few weeks. Today in the Guardian, Madeleine Bunting raises questions over the pressure coming from the Right for Cameron’s government to change their approach to the international development budget. The Coalition Government came to power promising to ring-fence international development spending, yet…
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Brown calls for new focus on African growth – and a mass roll out of broadband Internet
First published on Labour List Gordon Brown yesterday used his first major speech since leaving office to discuss the issue that has inspired him since childhood – development in Africa. In a speech to African Union leaders at their summit in Kampala, Gordon Brown called for a new approach to growth and aid on the continent.…
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Tony Blair writes about Sierra Leone in The Sun
This week, read Tony Blair piece in The Sun reflecting on Gleneagles five years on and his African Governance Initiative charity’s work in Sierra Leone. As Prime Minister, my first major interaction with Sierra Leone was when it was going through a tragic civil war. Britain stepped in and helped the government there to end…
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Aid is a marathon not a sprint
Douglas Alexander writes in The Guardian today that ‘the coalition has failed to commit fully to international aid, yet it is a policy that remains morally right and in our common interest.’ “Instead of creating straw men to burn ceremoniously in an ill-conceived strategy to placate sceptics on the right of his party, Andrew Mitchell…
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Cameron fails to fight for world’s poor as G8 drops $50bn aid pledge
First posted on Left Foot Forward. When Harriet Harman asked David Cameron last week to give due credit to Gordon Brown for his work on development, he replied: “I’d be delighted to, if he could be bothered to turn up to this House.” Apart from being disrespectful to a former prime minister and Chancellor respected…
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Foreign Office “planning a raid on DfID’s cash and on its turf”
The Financial Times website today carries a disturbing story on the future of DfID funding. This comes just weeks after an election when the now-Government pledged to ringfence DfID funding and that principle’s affirmation in the Coalition Document. According to Sue Cameron at the FT, the Foreign Office is “planning a raid on [DfID’s] cash…
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Fantastic opportunity to visit South Africa with ACTSA
Are you an active member in a youth or student movement? Are you interested in Southern Africa Issues? Action For Southern Africa want you to be part of their 2010 Youth and Student Delegation to South Africa. You will gain an in-depth knowledge on Education issues, HIV/AIDS, Civil Society, South Africa Government, South Africa’s relations…
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Check out ACTSA’s World Cup actions
The World Cup is on the very near horizon and brings with it more than just the promise of good football. This tournament, which begins in a fortnight, will be held in South Africa and is the largest tournament ever held on African soil. There is more to this World Cup than football. Though South…
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Our letter on aid gets mentioned in The Guardian
Today The Guardian notes our letter to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on our concerns the ConDem Government is trying to water down the UK’s aid budget. Read the article here (see the bottom paragraph).
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Letter to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury: UK spending on Overseas Development Assistance
Last week, the Coalition Government announced in it’s programme for International Development that it would “stick to the rules laid down by the OECD about what spending counts as aid.” But many NGOs are critical of the OECD’s laws, with organisations such as Aid Watch arguing that many EU Governments count non-aid items as aid…
Labour Campaign for International Development 