Why Labour?
Labour believes that it is wrong that somebody's chances in life depend on where they are born. That is why, in government, we have made it a priority, at home and abroad, to work for the eradication of poverty.
The Labour government is recognised as a world leader on international development. Since 1997, the UK aid budget has more than doubled and we have introduced legislation to refocus our development programme to concentrate on poverty reduction alone. Our aid is targeted to promote good governance, encourage economic development and enable countries to deliver public services, such as access to health services and education, for their people. We are also working to tackle the conflicts which ravage lives and which are a major cause of under-development.
Key achievements
- We have more than doubled Britain’s aid budget and are committed to reaching the UN target of 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income spent on aid by 2013, two years ahead of the UN goal
- At Gleneagles in 2005 we led an international campaign to cancel 100 per cent of multilateral debts for the poorest countries and secured agreement on an extra billion of aid for all developing countries by 2010
- We have untied aid so poor countries can use the money to buy goods and services from the most cost-effective source and have led efforts to secure support for an International Aid Transparency initiative to ensure citizens can hold their governments and donors to account and increase the effectiveness of aid.
- Labour has announced the UK’s biggest ever investment in fighting HIV and AIDS. We are currently the world’s second largest donor to the global fight against HIV and AIDS
- We have launched a new £130 million Governance and Transparency Fund which will provide resources to local civil society groups to improve governance in poor countries – for example, by helping citizens, media and parliaments hold governments to account.
Winning the fight for Britain's future:
- In 2007 we pledged to contribute £1 billion over the next seven years to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria and we will implement the International Finance Facility for Immunisation, which aims to save five million lives over the next decade. We will provide 20 million bed nets by 2010- one of the most effective ways of preventing malaria
- We will push for bold international action to ensure we meet the eight Millennium Development Goals, an internationally agreed set of objectives providing a global framework for development, which developed and developing countries have shared responsibility for delivering by 2015
- We will work to secure a new World Bank-managed Strategic Climate Fund to help poor countries cope with the catastrophic impacts of climate change and pursue low carbon development
- We will continue to press for progress in world trade talks to ensure a trade agreement that benefits developing countries and will work with international partners to secure billion in aid for trade
- We will continue to press for reform of global institutions including the UN, the World Bank and the IMF to ensure they are better equipped to deal with the challenges of the twenty-first century.