Attention global citizens! A vital promise is about to be broken!

45 years ago, a promise was made by the countries of the United Nations, a promise to the world’s poor. The countries of the EU, along with other rich countries, pledged to spend 0.7% of their national income (GNI) on Official Development Assistance (ODA) to help pull the poorest people out of poverty. EU leaders will miss a historic opportunity to keep this promise unless France and Germany step up.

So what’s the big deal?

This is all sounding a little technical (it's Europe... what do you expect?!), but in a French and German nutshell, if the EU countries don’t step up and recommit to their promise, the world's plan to end extreme poverty by 2030 will be in serious jeopardy. (For a proper look at what that roadmap is, take a look here.) We have a once in a generation opportunity to finally end extreme poverty, it’s time for our leaders to step up and take action.  

Okay, so what needs to happen?

Here’s the plan. Next week, at the upcoming meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council on Development (on 26 May 2015), leaders will have the opportunity to ensure that the pledge is still met by 2020, and to rebalance their aid budget towards countries that need it most.

Some Member States have already met or exceeded the 0.7% target – Sweden, Luxembourg, Denmark and the UK (whoop – go team GB). But France and Germany are among a number of Member States which have not yet agreed on a time-bound commitment to 0.7%. Come on France and Germany!!  

So what do I need to do?

It’s moments like this where we need you, our global citizens, to act as one and call on leaders to do the right thing.

Tweet Justine Greening, the UK Secretary of State for International Development, and tell her that you're relying on her leadership to ensure that the rest of Europe commits to aid and development at the Foreign Affairs Committee next week.

This year, with major agreements on the UN agenda, it is critical that EU countries doesn’t drop the ball and give up on fulfilling a pledge made 45 years ago. It’s absolutely vital that all EU countries go into that meeting ready to commit to aid, ready to fund the sustainable goals, ready to end extreme poverty.