§ 19. Kevin BrennanTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress she has made since June 2001 towards meeting the UN target for percentage of gross domestic product devoted to international aid. [62486]
§ Clare ShortIn 2001, UK official development assistance was 0.32 per cent. of gross national income (GNI)—up from 0.26 per cent. in 1997. The Government are committed to the target of raising development assistance to 0.7 per cent. of national income, and will significantly raise the amount of our development assistance and its share in national income, in the next spending round. This will be announced soon, and will cover the years up to 2005–06.
The UK played a major role in securing the commitment by the European Union at the Financing for Development conference in Monterrey to raise its average official development assistance as a share of national income to 0.39 per cent. (from 0.32 per cent.) by 2006. This will mean an extra $7 billion of official development assistance per year from Europe.