Anti-poverty advocacy group, ONE, welcomed today’s EU budget deal for 2014-2020 which preserved development aid levels.

ONE’s Brussels Director, Eloise Todd said:

“After three years, two leaders summits and countless behind the scenes negotiations, a decent deal for the world’s poorest has finally been concluded. We now urge swift implementation of all programmes so that no one on the ground suffers from the delay in sign off.

“This preservation of development aid levels is testament to the excellent work that EU aid has done in recent years and the vast improvements in its delivery. Just last month EU aid was dubbed the most improved aid mechanism in Publish What You Fund’s Aid Transparency Index

“We now look to the European Commission to show leadership and pledge ambitious support for the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria and the Global Alliance Vaccines and Immunisations (GAVI). If the Global Fund’s replenishment target of $15bn is met at their conference on 2-3 December many, many millions around the world will receive help to treat and prevent the effects of these terrible scourges.”

NOTES TO EDITOR

• Parliament approved the EU’s long-term budget for 2014-2020 by 537 votes to 126, with 19 abstentions.
• All the conditions set out in its July resolution – which followed a political agreement at the highest levels between Parliament, the Irish Presidency and the Commission – were met.
• The overall budget for the next seven years is €960 billion in commitments and €908 billion in payments (at 2011 prices).
• The Council of Ministers is set to approve the MFF as an A point at the Competitiveness Council on 2 December.
• ONE is a campaigning and advocacy organization of more than 3.5 million people taking action to end extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. Cofounded by Bono and strictly nonpartisan, we raise public awareness and work with political leaders to combat AIDS and preventable diseases, increase investments in agriculture and nutrition, and demand greater transparency in poverty-fighting programs. ONE is not a grant-making organization and does not solicit funding from the public or receive government funding. ONE is funded almost entirely by a handful of philanthropists and foundations. We achieve change through advocacy. Our teams in Washington, D.C., London, Johannesburg, Brussels, Berlin, and Paris educate and lobby governments to shape policy solutions that save and improve millions of lives. To learn more, go to ONE.org.