Journalism can never be silent
"There can be no higher law in journalism than to tell the truth and shame the devil - remain detached from the great" - Walter Lippman
UN Secetary-General Ban Ki-moon on the announcement that two targets of the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) had been met last week.
These two targets were:
- Global poverty has been halved (as reported by the Economist) in 2010. (MDG 1)
- The number of people without access to safe drinking water has been halved. (MDG 7, Target 7.C)
While financing is crucial, we can’t assume a direct link between governments having more money and progress towards the MDGs. The existence of good institutions to design, implement and evaluate policies is crucial. Such institutions need to be able to raise revenue so that poverty reduction can be sustained in the medium and long term.
There are some important lessons here for the designers of the framework that follows on from the MDGs – a framework that must tackle inequality as well as poverty.
Our foreign aid budget is imperative in allowing our nation to meet our pledge in achieving the eight Millennium Development Goals. The commitment to the Millennium Development Goals was made by John Howard at the United Nations’ Millennium Summit in September 2000. These Goals remain vital to improving the health, education and mortality rates of millions of people living in developing nations.
The Coalition has repeatedly pledged its commitment to increase aid to 0.5% of the GNP by 2015. As Tony Abbott declared in February 2010, “The Coalition has no plans to cut the foreign aid budget”.
I appreciate that there have been changes in the political environment since that time, both nationally and internationally. However, with such acknowledgement, I hope this letter reminds you that the bipartisan commitment to foreign aid originally pledged is something many constituents within your electorate hold dearly.
In the spirit of mateship and decency to our foreign neighbours, Australia and its leaders must contribute to achieving the Eight Millennium Development Goals. A key component to this success is ensuring the Coalition’s strong commitment to the current bipartisan agreement of 0.5% of Australia’s GNP to foreign aid is maintained.
Sign the petition to get Australia to donate 0.5% of its GNI to foreign aid. The above is an excerpt from the petition letter and it is important because the Eight Millennium Development Goals are a major key in eliminate absolute poverty.
