Ten things you need to know about European aid (but won’t find in the Sunday Telegraph)
UK media reports over the weekend were critical of UK aid money that is spent via Europe. But in the stories many facts about EU aid have been overlooked. At ONE we fight for smart aid to help the poorest people lift themselves out of extreme poverty. Aid from the European Union is increasingly just that. More and more of it is smart aid that saves lives and we should protect it.
So to correct some of the myths, here my top ten facts about EU aid and the reasons we need to support it:
- In the six years to 2009, EU aid gave more than nine million children a primary education, more than 31 million people access to safe drinking water and vaccinated more than 5 million children against measles
- Bill Gates says “The EU is the most influential aid donor in the world” and “EU generosity has literally helped save millions and millions of lives.”
- Contrary to reports the EU does not give development aid to Iceland. Iceland receives money from a specific fund designed to assist with the costs of preparing for EU membership. This is nothing to do with EU aid to fight poverty.
- EU aid is focusing on the poorest people and countries. Governments of China, Brazil and India will no longer receive development aid from the EU from 2014 and the list of countries eligible for the EU’s Development Cooperation Instrument has been cut from 48 to 29 so that EU aid will become even more focused on the poorest countries in the years ahead.
- The UK ranks the European Commission among the world’s top development and humanitarian aid donors. The UK’s Multilateral Aid Review rated the European Development Fund, the key EU aid instrument, as ‘critical to UK development objectives’.
- An independent study by Publish What You Fund ranked the part of the EU that delivers aid to the poorest, one of the top ten most transparent donors in the world. It came ninth out of 58 institutions.
- Giving some of our aid through the EU means we can coordinate aid with other countries to avoid overlap, save money on delivery, and reach countries that we otherwise couldn’t.
- Eritrea is the fifth poorest country in the world but not a focus of direct aid from the UK, France or Germany. Here EU aid supports agriculture so communities can cope with droughts and avoid famine, and it build roads so people can get their goods to market, building businesses and helping people lift themselves out of poverty.
- At the UK Hunger Summit during the Olympics the European Union pledged to use its aid to help save 7 million children from stunting (caused by malnutrition) by 2025.
- If protected the EU aid budget could help over 51 million people have access to clean water, get over 15 million children into primary school and vaccinate 8.3 million children by 2020.
We’re not saying everything in the world of aid is perfect, nor that aid is all that’s needed to overcome poverty. And we also know there are lots of views about how big the EU should be, how big its total budget should be and so on. That debate is not for us. Our argument is simple: aid from Europe is good and getting better. It’s a tiny proportion of total spending. It’s helping save lives. It should be protected.
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The International ONE Blog is a daily log of the anti-poverty movement. The site is operated by ONE staff, with guest contributions from ONE volunteers, members and allies.
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27/09/2012 at 4:30 pm
Finally, somebody says something intelligent. For once, I have nothing to add! Point well made.
28/09/2012 at 3:44 pm
I second that.
28/09/2012 at 3:52 pm
Why isn’t this reaching a (MUCH) larger audience?
28/09/2012 at 9:39 pm
EU aid is surely precious and helpful for many people, but don’t forget the ESM. It seems that what a hand give the other one takes away with much gain. See riticism about ESM on wikipedia.
29/09/2012 at 11:44 am
Very Clear and Lucid – unlike the Sunday Telegraph! – Well done
What does the Telegraph have as it’s motive in trying to lie to us, and work against this aid? – ( I have not read the article yet, but feel very concerned about the motivations involved. They should be fined for publishing lies, and censured for such an article. I think if subscribers voted by cancelling subscriptions, they might take a different line.
29/09/2012 at 12:54 pm
I urge everyone to forward this article to Ian Macgregor. Let us fill his inbox with them. Perhaps he will get the message.
In the meanwhile, is there any chance Adrian Lovett’s article could be picked up by another paper in order to reach a wider audience.
29/09/2012 at 12:58 pm
We should all be suspicious of an aid policy that sees promoting ‘free trade’ as its core objective.
The real scandal lies here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9545584/Poverty-barons-who-make-a-fortune-from-taxpayer-funded-aid-budget.html
Far too much of the overseas aid budget is fed right back into the pockets of UK companies and individuals; possibly more than is corruptly filtered off into personal accounts in recipient countries.
30/09/2012 at 12:01 am
Although I fully support our aid budget, knowing how the EU can waste money in many other areas I would not be surprised if taxpayers money was going where it shouldnt. Whether the spending of it on a leisure complex in morrocco, french company centre parcs is true, i dont know but if that is the case, it is a disgrace. Is every penny of aid audited & open for the public to see? Every penny should go to providing clean water technology, health measures, education & so on. I also believe that it should not be given direct to some potentially corrupt govs, but be strictly monitored & accounted for. Then even more aid can be allocated where there is most need
30/09/2012 at 2:33 pm
How refreshing to not see any right wing ranting supporting the torygraph.
I agree with most of the points here. I believe the corrupt, greedy capitalists still stick to the old system of demonising their victims. The sad truth is most of the UK population buy into a selfish “I’m all right jack” way of thinking, and have very little compasion for the true victims of a consumerist system gone mad, where even the fairly poor in the UK are living like kings compared to two thirds of the worlds people.
Remember when it came out that purchasing jet fighters from BAe was part of a deal where we funded a hydro power project? That sounds like me funding arms makers, not my first choice of who I want to help.
08/10/2012 at 3:41 am
I have just calculated i contribute £79 pounds a year through my taxes to development aid,puts it all into perspective,me thinks.
19/10/2012 at 10:28 am
yes that is the 29 cutter i have plans to. have you ever read Larry Pardey’s book on buiildng their new boat Talisin? he is a very good craftsman boat builder, many good ideas they have on their boat, i will be buiildng mine much the same way, as they say keep it simple and go now i have the same problem you have about finding the lead for the keel, at least finding it cheap may not be so easy. my boat will have 6350 pounds of lead ballast.you guys might like the interior layout of the Pardey’s boat, they have gravity feed water, oil lamps, simple navigation and no engine. i am looking forward to buiildng my boat much the same way, it will get me underway faster and less maintanance on extra stuff .good luck on the planking james