UN Photo/Kibae Park
Oxfam, Save the Children, Global Poverty Project and 33 others formed the #turnupsavelives coalition
WHAT'S THE ISSUE?
In 1970 the U.N General Assembly set a bold target to eliminate extreme global poverty. They proposed that those countries who had richer, more developed economies should aim to contribute at least 0.7% of their gross national income on international aid and development.
Fast forward to 2014 and for the very first time in its history, the UK Government met the 0.7 target, making it the first ever G7 country to do so. UK aid saves a life every two minutes and has provided 43.1 million people with access to clean water, better sanitation or improved hygiene conditions since 2011. This is only possible with the continued funding and commitment to development from the UK Government. Earlier in 2014, MP Michael Moore brought forward a bill in Parliament that would enshrine into law that the UK aid budget is maintained at its current level, which is 0.7%.
36 organisations including Oxfam, Save the Children and The Global Poverty Project rallied together across 2014 to support this bill, forming the #turnupsavelives coalition. The coalition mobilised thousands of supporters from around the United Kingdom to support the final push to 0.7% - a long running aim for our sector. Take a look at the coalition website here: http://www.turnupsavelives.org.uk/.
HOW DID GLOBAL CITIZENS RESPOND?
Global citizens set to work applying pressure on MPs to turn up to parliamentary readings and vote. Hundreds of emails were sent to MPs across the UK from global citizens who wanted their MPs to #turnupsavelives. Social media campaigning also influenced a number of MPs who were unsure of turning up for both the second and third reading of the bill.
Through their emails, global citizens played a significant part in this campaign alongside our partners Save the Children and One, and working together, ensured that this important bill was passed through the Commons. Once it had passed the House of Commons, the #TurnUpSaveLives coalition worked with peers in the House of Lords to ensure that the bill passed at each stage, ready for Royal Ascent.
WHAT'S THE IMPACT?
The international aid budget will no-longer be a political football kicked around from newspaper to newspaper and party to party for criticism and cuts. Instead, the UK Government can start focusing on the quality of our international aid over time rather than its quantity at any given moment. Stability in the budget will also enable better quality planning with multilaterals and aid distributors, which has potential to making our tax development pounds go further towards ending extreme poverty than ever before.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Nothing, the bill has passed through all stages of Parliament and was given Royal Ascent by the Queen (she has to sign all bills into law). It is now officially an Act of Parliament, 0.7% of GNI will now always be spent on aid and development, and it was all down to you.