Geldof right to slam government on aid levels

14 July 2006

"It's time the government stopped sitting on its hands and set a timetable for reaching its commitments on international aid," says Rae Julian Executive Director of the Council for International Development.

Ms. Julian was responding to Bob Geldof calling the New Zealand government's level of aid "a disgrace" in Auckland today.

New Zealand is one of only two OECD countries which has not either significantly increased aid levels or set a timetable for reaching the UN Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of devoting 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income to Official Development Aid by 2015.

"It is the height of hypocrisy for the government to be offering rhetorical support for the MDGs, while taking no practical steps to achieve a key goal.

"Geldof is right to call the 0.27 per cent of GNI we devote to aid a disgrace. New Zealand risks international opprobrium if the government doesn't take serious action on this issue," Ms Julian says.

The Council for International Development is Aotearoa/New Zealand's umbrella group for international aid organisations, representing 83 member groups.

See www.cid.org.nz.

Phone (04) 496-9615 (office), (04) 499-8975 (home) or 021 708 288 (mobile).

E-mail: rae@cid.org.nz

Or Debra Harrington, Media Coordinator

Phone: (06) 364-3623 or 021 059 5227

E-mail: debra@paradise.net.nz