To the work the UK is doing to reduce poverty overseas.

In 2005, people called on world leaders to make poverty history.

• Nelson Mandela addressed over 20,000 people in Trafalgar Square.
• 10 million people supported the UK’s Make Poverty History campaign.
• Millions of people around the world watched the LIVE 8 concerts asking for justice for the world’s poor.
  

And the UK pushed for change at the G8 summit in Gleneagles in July 2005. World leaders promised to:

• double aid, giving an extra 50 billion US dollars (US$) each year, including US$25 billion for Africa; and
• cancel up to US$50 billion worth of debt for the poorest countries in the world.

But this is just the beginning. The challenges are still huge.

The UK Government has set out a new action plan (a White Paper) for the next five years. This paper explains how we will work with overseas governments and international partners to make sure these promises change the lives of poor people.

This website sets out how future aid from the UK for developing countries will be spent on essential services to get children into school, people to health clinics, and water to those who need it most. And it explains how we will help governments and their citizens to take charge of their own futures.

The good news…

• India lifts over 5 million people out of poverty every year.
• 75 million more children are in primary school today than in 1990.
• Over 8 times more people are receiving treatment for AIDS now than in 2003.

and the bad…

• Every day 30,000 children die because of preventable diseases.
• 32% of people in Africa live in poverty.
• Life expectancy in Botswana is 35, and falling.
• Two-thirds of the world’s hungry people live in Asia.

By 2015, nine out of ten of the world’s poorest people will live in Africa and South Asia. Around half of this number will live in countries without effective governments.

So we will focus our aid on the poorest countries and those most in need.