Muslim Live 8 concert puts spotlight on Darfur
21 October 2007
Muslim Live 8 takes place today, Sunday 21
October, at London's Wembley Arena. The concert, which will be attended by
International Development Minister Shahid Malik, brings together Muslim artists
from around the world to celebrate Eid, and raise awareness of and funds for
Darfur.
Speaking in support of the event, Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for International Development, said:
“Events like today’s concert show how deeply people from all communities and walks of life feel about the situation in Darfur. Muslim Live 8 will help increase international attention on the appalling situation in Darfur, where violence and a lack of security has contributed to over 4 million people being dependent on humanitarian aid. It is time now for all parties to deliver on their commitments and put an end to this conflict.”
A message of support from Prime Minister Gordon Brown will also be broadcast
at the concert, and will be available to watch
on the
No10 website.
DFID: Tackling poverty in Muslim communities around the world
The UK Government, which has provided £10,000 to help stage Muslim Live 8, remains committed to a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Darfur. As a lead donor in Sudan, the UK has contributed substantially to the humanitarian efforts in the region, giving over £145 million since 2003. Read more about DFID's work in Darfur here.
DFID is also working to alleviate poverty in other countries with large Muslim communities, currently providing more than £1.5 billion of assistance in 25 such countries. In 2005/06, 15 of these received more than £50 million each. DFID's ten largest programmes are in countries that are more than 15% Muslim, with these communities totalling more than 630 million people (over 40% of the world’s Muslims).
Recent years have seen DFID's funding to countries with sizeable Muslim populations increase, contributing to big reductions in poverty:
- Pakistan - received £97 million funding in 2005/06, an increase of 547% since 2000. At the end of 2006 the UK announced a doubling of our aid to Pakistan, from £236 million for the period 2005 to 2008, up to £480 million for the period 2008 to 2011. Poverty has decreased (from 34.5% in 2001 to 24% in 2004) and there are now 3 million more children in primary school than in 2001.
- Bangladesh - received £120 million in 2006/07, an increase of over 70% since 2000. The country has experienced one of the fastest rates of poverty reduction in the world - 1% for each of the last ten years. This means that, every day, over 1,300 people escape poverty. DFID support will help to provide 17 million children with free primary education.
- Nigeria - received £78 million in 2005/06, an increase of 356% since 2000. The UK has worked in partnership with the Nigerian government to deliver the largest ever debt cancellation for an African country worth $18 billion. The UK alone wrote off $2.8 billion, which could employ 120,000 teachers and put 3.5 million children into school.
- Afghanistan - has received £490 million since 2001 on reconstruction and development. The UK is Afghanistan's second largest donor after the US and gave over £100 million in 2006/07. In 2007/08 we expect to spend £107 million, rising to £115 million in 2008/09. Substantial improvements have been seen in education (with over 6 million children now in school), health (with 72 new hospitals and clinics built and 35,000 children alive thanks to immunisations) and the economy, which grew by 8% in 2006/07. In addition, 4.8 million refugees have now returned home.
- Occupied Palestinian Territories - have received £18.6 million, as of the end of August 2007, through the
- Iraq - has received approximately £488 million, including over £125 million for humanitarian efforts. The UK has now pledged £744 million for development and reconstruction assistance. Progress on reconstruction is being made in spite of continuing violence and sabotage. Since the end of the conflict, 3 million children under five have been vaccinated against measles.
