WP: Aid to Poorest Nations Trails Global Goal(U.S. trails wealthy nations)

[DeepModem Mom]

Aid to Poorest Nations Trails Global Goal
U.S. Is a Top Donor After Disasters but Lags on Development Assistance

By Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, January 15, 2005; Page A18


At the 2002 U.N. summit on global poverty in Mexico, President Bush endorsed the final "Monterrey Consensus" that urged rich countries to contribute 0.7 percent of their national income -- which for Americans works out to a little more than 70 cents per day per person -- to help poor countries develop. The resolution capped an international effort launched in 1969.

"We fight against poverty because hope is an answer to terrorism," Bush told the summit. "We fight against poverty because opportunity is a fundamental right to human dignity."

Yet three years later, the United States is still a long way from that goal, providing the smallest amount of development aid from the world's 22 wealthy nations -- approximately 15 cents per day per American, officials say, or less than $55 per person annually for aid to help the rest of the world.

"It's the equivalent of going to Starbucks twice a month," said William Cline, a fellow at the Center for Global Development and the Institute for International Economics. "We give only half as much as other countries on average."...


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10692-2005Jan14.html

[ogradda]

1. well the government's doing SOMETHING with my money

i wonder where all of it is going?:eyes:

[theresistance]

2. Colin Powell told another untruth recently

He said that the US was one of the most generous aid donors but within a day or two another report pointed out that per capita, the US is in fact the lowest aid giver.