Get clued up: Aid

Aid can be life-changing – it can help prevent disease, send children to school and support communities to recover after disasters.

Aid isn’t the only answer to poverty; we need to challenge unfair global systems too. But it does have a crucial role to play. Thanks to international aid, 41 million more children received primary education in 2005 than they did in 1999 - and the average chance of a child surviving to the age of five has doubled. We believe we have a moral duty to reach out to those in need, regardless of nationality, race or religion, so that all people can flourish.
That's why we're calling for:

• The UK government to pass legislation to ensure that 0.7 per cent of our national income is spent on aid. Governments worldwide made this promise in 1970 – and since then it has been made and broken dozens of times. Enshrining this target in law will safeguard aid spending and set a powerful example to other countries.
• The UK government to make sure aid to be targeted where it is needed most, and spent wisely. We need to safeguard and build on the huge improvements in aid delivery that there have been over recent years, and to ensure people whose lives are directly affected by aid spending have the power to determine their own futures.

You have helped change political thinking on aid. Despite tough economic times, you’ve persuaded all three main political parties to back the 0.7 per cent target – now we just need to turn that target into law, and make sure aid is spent wisely.