13 July 2009
Welcoming the publication of One World Conservatism, the Conservative Party’s International Development Green Paper, Tearfund Advocacy Director Paul Cook said:
‘It’s very encouraging to see such a high profile given to debating the importance and effectiveness of international development, and we welcome the Conservative Party’s commitment to retaining current levels of aid.
`We are pleased to see that the Conservative Party would want the UK to continue to take a lead on achieving the Millennium Development Goals and addressing global poverty.
‘However, there are some glaring omissions in this Green Paper. While we welcome the opportunity to debate how best to deliver aid, it is astonishing to see a debate on international development without any recognition of the role of faith communities in the field.
‘In Tearfund’s experience of working for more than 40 years through local churches in the poorest parts of the world, it is facile to consider that it is possible to address need at a local level without engaging local faith-based organisations.
‘We’d like to see more policy detail in this paper’s reference to climate change. This is not just an add-on to international development; environmental sustainability is fundamental to addressing issues of food security, agriculture, land and water resource management and disaster risk reduction.
‘We need to see firm commitments to ambitious UK emissions reductions by 2020, and global investment of $150 billion per year to help poor communities adapt and respond to climate change, in addition to current aid budgets. How much would the Conservative Party commit the UK to contributing?
‘We welcome the focus on aid effectiveness and the Green Paper’s aim of channelling aid to those most in need, but we’re not yet convinced that all the proposals would achieve this objective. Offering a public vote along the lines of the MyAid proposal could divert funding from addressing vital infrastructure issues, for example.
‘We welcome the recognition of the neglect of water and sanitation and the Conservatives’ commitment to lobby for global action to push water, sanitation and hygiene up the development agenda.
`In the 21st century, it’s a travesty that one in eight people worldwide live without access to clean water and 2.5 billion without access to a decent toilet.
`However, we are disappointed that water and sanitation, rather than being recognised as essential basic services alongside health and education, appear as a sub-section of health and education.
‘We welcome the call for more openness and transparency about how international development funding is administered. We’d like to see more openness from the Conservative Party about how they think their Green Paper would work in practice.’