Half of Czechs accepts higher taxes due to increased aid - poll

from The Prague Monitor

Prague, Feb 6 (CTK) - About half of Czechs would agree with increasing the development aid paid by their country even if it meant one-percent higher taxes for them, according to a poll conducted by SC&C agency for the Foreign Ministry and released to CTK today.

Nearly 80 percent of those polled admitted that one may help without expecting gaining any immediate advantages in return.

"It is a pleasant surprise that most people support selfless aid," Zuzana Hlavickova from the ministry said.

Higher taxes because of more aid would be accepted mainly by young people and people with higher education.

On the contrary, pensioners mostly considered the present level of Czech development aid, or 3 billion crowns a year, too high.

More than half of the respondents (56 percent) said they believed the present level was sufficient.

According to the respondents, the main reasons for the provision of development aid are to help people in need, help children and fight poverty.

The poll showed that people believe that fight against HIV, AIDS and other diseases, improving the position of women and children and support to education should be priority areas for the aid.

Two in five Czechs have not heard about development aid before the poll. Most of those polled said more information about it would be vital.

Czech Red Cross head Jiri Prochazka supported this view.

"The awareness about how much money and what for is paid is horribly low," he told CTK.

In 2006, the Czech Republic provided 3.3 billion crowns for development aid to poor countries, which is 100 million crowns more than last year. Part of this sum is designed for contributions to international organisations and the remaining money goes directly to individual countries.

At present, the Czech Republic has nine priority countries to which it provides aid - Serbia, Montenegro, Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yemen, Vietnam, Moldova, Mongolia, and Zambia.

The ministry wants to reassess the country´s development aid this year. moreover, a new agency to coordinate development and humanitarian aid is to be set up.

Experts have pointed out for a long time that the system of Czech foreign aid should be improved since it is disunited, while individual ministries often act independently from each other.