Jessica from our UK office brings us this great bit of news!

In a packed House of Commons today, the Chancellor delivered the annual budget. We had been waiting eagerly to see what the results would be for development aid. With the current economic downturn affecting everyone, some worried that the development pot would be raided.

At lunchtime, we found out that Gordon Brown and Alastair Darling have kept their promise to the world’s poorest- they did not roll back their spending commitments even in these tough times. Chancellor Alistair Darling said Britain’s Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) budget would be £7.48bn for 2009/10 and £9.14bn for 2010/11, as proposed in last year’s Comprehensive Spending Review.

What does that mean? It means that the UK is still on track to keep its promise to devote 0.56% of national income to effective overseas aid by 2010. This is great news!

In reaction to the news, ONE Executive Director Jamie Drummond said the following:

“The Prime Minister and the Chancellor have shown true global leadership in keeping Britain’s promises to the world’s poorest. Britain is setting the standard for other G8 countries at a time of global crisis when effective overseas assistance has an even more vital role to play.

“This pledge reflects the British public’s firm belief that effective international aid is a smart investment in a fairer, more prosperous world.”

-Jessica Gomez-Duran