Britain now the world's second largest aid donor

from the Guardian

Record amount of £7.5bn spent on poorer countries
· Gordon Brown urges G8 members to raise budgets

Ashley Seager

The Guardian

Britain has become the world's second largest overseas aid donor thanks to a 12% increase in spending in the past year, the government said yesterday. Aid spending rose £808m in the last financial year to a new record of £7.5bn, putting Britain second behind the United States

"It's clear that the UK is keeping its promises and that aid for development is increasing," said international development secretary Douglas Alexander.

"Every year our aid helps to lift around 3 million people permanently out of poverty and empowers poor countries to provide basic services such as health and education that we commonly take for granted."

In the past 10 years, Mr Alexander claimed that UK aid had helped put 28 million children into primary school - 17 million in Bangladesh alone - and funded 700 more nurses in Malawi and 3,000 health workers in Uganda. It had also helped bring clean water to more than 2.5 million people in India, Pakistan and Iraq .

The figures showed that in the calendar year 2006 Britain provided £6.8bn in Overseas Development Aid - the official definition which includes debt relief.

The government spends 0.5% of national income on aid, the highest share since 1964, but the Department for International Development (DFID) said Britain was committed to meeting the United Nation's target of 0.7% by 2013, ahead of the agreed European target date of 2015.

Mr Alexander said: "We are committed to increasing our aid to poor countries, but fighting poverty and promoting development is not just about aid. The prime minister has signalled a new phase for delivering on our promises built upon new global partnerships, such as the new international health partnership launched in August, and doing more beyond aid."

Aid campaigners welcomed the news. Patrick Watt, policy coordinator at ActionAid, said: "This is an encouraging set of figures from the DFID. For developing countries to fight killer diseases such as HIV and get more children in to education, rich countries must up their game, so this is a great signal to send ... But it's also essential that this funding is consistent and that is why Gordon Brown must use the upcoming comprehensive spending review to increase the government's commitment to fighting poverty."

Alistair Darling, the chancellor, is likely to give his prebudget report and spending review to parliament next week, but campaigners are worried that the DFID's settlement will not be as big as the 12% rise for each of the next three years that they say is needed to hit the 0.7% target. They fear the department may only get around 9% a year extra.

Phil Bloomer, Oxfam's head of campaigns and policy, said: "These figures are great and show that the government is keeping its promises on aid - this money means lives saved. Now we need to see at least the same level of increase - 12% annually until 2010 - when the comprehensive spending review is announced to ensure that the UK continues to lead the world in the fight against poverty."

Earlier this year former development secretary Hilary Benn set up a watchdog to ensure that Britain's aid budget was being spent effectively. Mr Brown has been at the forefront of a campaign to persuade other rich countries in the G8 to increase their aid budgets to ensure that the millennium development goals are met. At the Gleneagles summit two years ago G8 countries agreed to help fund the MDGs by providing an extra $50bn annually in aid to poor countries by 2010.