UK aid budget
UK Development Assistance
Tackling global poverty remains a key priority for the UK Government, as demonstrated at the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR07), which announced significant increases to the Department of International Development's (DFID) budget. Over the CSR07 period, DFID's budget will grow by an average of 11 per cent a year, rising from £5.4 billion in 2007-08 to £7.9 billion a year by 2010-11. Taken together with wider Government contributions to Official Development Assistance (ODA), this puts the UK on track to meet the EU's collective commitment and spend 0.56 per cent of Gross National Income (GNI) on ODA in 2010-11, on its way to reaching the UN's recommended level of 0.7 per cent ODA/GNI in 2013, two years ahead of the EU's target. DFID estimates that UK development assistance is helping to lift three million people permanently out of poverty each year.
International Poverty Reduction Public Service Agreement
During the CSR07 period, HM Treasury will lead the Government's Public Service Agreement (PSA) to reduce poverty in poorer countries through quicker progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs are an internationally agreed set of objectives providing a global framework for development, which developed and developing countries have shared responsibility for delivering by 2015. The UK will promote this by both helping poor countries develop secure and effective states able to sustain economic growth and deliver public services; and by building a global partnership on development policies beyond aid, including by encouraging an increased international focus on gender equality and environmental sustainability.
