On June 25-26, the European Council will take place in Brussels. ONE calls on the EU Heads of State and Government to increase the EU’s commitment to the fight against extreme poverty by agreeing to collectively spend half of aid on the world’s poorest countries.

Tamira Gunzburg, Director of ONE Brussels, said:

“This week, the European Council must reverse the perverse trend of cutting aid to the world’s poorest countries. If we are to end extreme poverty by 2030, leaders must drive up the EU’s ambition and commit to directing half of aid to the least developed countries.”

“It is unacceptable that extreme poor people in the poorest countries receive less aid per capita than extreme poor people in other developing countries.”

This week’s European Council is a critical opportunity for EU leaders to change their collective position ahead of the Financing for Development summit in Addis Ababa in July. At this historic summit, world leaders will decide on how to finance the fight against extreme poverty.

Gunzburg continued:

“In May, EU development ministers committed to spending 0.2% of national income on aid to the poorest countries within the next 15 years. But that represents less than a third of total aid. To get the job done, the EU must be bold and scale up the share of aid spent on the poorest countries before it is too late.”

***ENDS***

Notes to editors

• Pictures of today’s actions are available here.
• Contact, information &interviews: Tess Uytterhoeven| Media Manager | [email protected] | m: +32 (0)471 89 64 22
• About 0.7%: In May, the EU development ministers agreed to spend 0.7% of national income on aid, of which 0.2% of national income on aid to the least developed countries, within the next 15 years. ONE is calling on the EU to prioritise least developed countries by directing half of aid towards those countries by 2020, while at the same time increasing overall aid levels to 0.7% of national income.
• ABOUT ONE: ONE is a campaigning and advocacy organisation of nearly 7 million people taking action to end extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. Not politically partisan, we raise public awareness and press political leaders to combat AIDS and preventable diseases, increase investments in agriculture and nutrition, and demand greater transparency in poverty-fighting programmes. To learn more, go to one.org.