UN MILLENNIUM CAMPAIGN URGES STAGGERING $850 BILLION ALLOCATED TO IMF AND WORLD BANK AT G-20 BE TARGETED AT ACHIEVING MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
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  • more and better aid

The Campaign

The PointSeven Campaign

More and Better Aid

We are calling on the government to:

  • Commit to a timeline for giving 0.7 % of Gross National Income (GNI) as overseas aid by 2015
  • Give effective aid, that reaches the people who need it and is focused on eliminating poverty

Why 0.7 percent?

In 2002, the world's governments signed up to a target of giving 0.7% of Gross National Income as Official Development Assistance (ODA). This target was agreed to be the minimum amount of ODA needed to lift millions out of poverty and meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The 0.7% figure may sound complicated, but it is actually quite simple. You take the total income earned by all the people in the country and then the government gives 0.7% of that as aid. Or to look at it another way: for every $100 earned in the country, the country gives 70 cents in aid.

Norway, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands and Luxemberg have exceeded the 0.7% target, and most other OECD states have set a timetable for reaching it. By contrast, New Zealand  agreed to the 0.7% target but never set a timetable for meeting it.

This is despite the fact that the vast majority of New Zealanders support New Zealand ODA and two out of three support the government meeting the 0.7% target.

The PointSeven campaign is calling for all political parties to support New Zealand's international commitments and give 0.7% of GNI as ODA by 2015. The government has commited to giving 0.35% by 2010 but more needs to be done!

What are the Millennium Development Goals anyway?

The MDGs are a set of important poverty reduction targets to be reached by 2015. They represent a commitment by rich countries like New Zealand to do more to eliminate poverty in the developing world.

The MDGs:

  • Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
  • Ensure all children complete primary school
  • Promote gender equality and empower women
  • Reduce child mortality
  • Improve maternal health
  • Combat HIV/AIDS and other diseases
  • Ensure environmental sustainability
  • Develop a global partnership for development, including a fairer world trade system and access to technology

What is effective aid?

The PointSeven group defines effective aid as:

  • Driven by the needs of poor people; not tied to the donor's political and commercial interests
  • Both donors and recipients are held accountable to how aid money is spent
  • Promoting, protecting and fulfilling human rights - including the right to gender equality
  • Environmentally sustainable
  • An effective aid programme can be proven to actually reduce poverty

Is New Zealand aid effective?

It is very effective, according to international reports, such as the 2005 OECD review, and a review by Dr Marilyn Waring, 2005.

The OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) review described New Zealand aid agency NZAID's achievements, since it was set up in 2002, as "very impressive".

New Zealand's ODA is effective because:

  • New Zealand aid is normally untied; NZAID is free to make decisions based on partners' needs and contractors' merit, rather than sourcing services, contractors and products only from NZ
  • NZAID has developing country "partners", and its programmes are designed to meet their needs
  • NZAID promotes and protects human rights

The New Zealand NGO sector also provides effective aid. We often work at the grassroots level in developing countries with local partners. We ensure that aid is driven by the needs of the local communities - experience tells us that it is local people who determine the success of a development project.