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Find out morePlan International applauds aid increase in hard economic times
13-May-2009
The aid budget has clear benefits for children and their communities, particularly with its strong emphasis on education and food security.
- Increase and improvements in aid and development Budget means Australia can now be taken seriously again at an international level
- Budget decisions demonstrate a government committed to the wellbeing of its own citizens, and people around the world
Leading international children’s development agency Plan International has congratulated the Federal Government on increasing the aid and development budget despite hard economic times.
National Executive Director of Plan in Australia, Ian Wishart said that although the increase was small, it demonstrated a real commitment from the Government to being a good international citizen and helping the world’s poorest people.
“It might have been tempting to use the global financial crisis as an excuse to cut and run from those around the world who are most in need and simply focus on problems at home, but the government has clearly not done that,” said Mr Wishart. “It has taken the next step forward towards its commitment of 0.5 per cent of our national wealth going to helping the global poor by 2015.”
The challenge for the coming years would be for the Government to continue moving towards this goal, he said.
Mr Wishart said that along with the increase, there was also a marked improvement in how Australia’s aid money was going to be spent, with a particular focus on programs that will help to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, funding increases to the UN and a better use of NGOs to bring about change at a grassroots level.
“These improvements to the aid Budget mean that Australia can once more be taken seriously at an international level,” Mr Wishart said.
Mr Wishart said that the Budget had maintained Australia’s commitment to being a good neighbour, with large contributions to Papua New Guinea and Pacific Island nations, but it also renewed a focus on Africa with substantial increases in development assistance.
Dave Husy, programs director of Plan in Australia, said that in the context of the global financial crisis, the Budget provided a foundation for even more improvements in the future.
Mr Husy said that the aid and development Budget had clear benefits for children and their communities, particularly with its strong emphasis on education and food security. He also said that a significant increase in assistance to Pakistan and Zimbabwe would contribute greatly to helping children who are experiencing severe conditions.
Mr Husy did, however, express surprise that the renewed focus on Africa did not appear to include an emphasis on tackling HIV, one of the biggest development challenges in the south and east of the continent.
Note to editors
Ian Wishart and Dave Husy are available for comment.Contact David Cook on (03) 9672 3652 or 0448 816 900 to arrange an interview.