Better Aid for the World We Want

Hundreds of billions of aid dollars is used each year for poverty eradication. With the current global finance, climate change and food crises hitting the poorest hardest, there is an even greater need for this aid to work. Governments committing to using this money more wisely could help to do this by making every aid dollar spent count.  Their cooperation with civil society organizations that represent the very people that aid is meant to support, is vital for effective development.

Yet an important recent study shows that over the past decade, governments have made very little progress on previous commitments to make aid effective. Moreover, these commitments made so far were not sufficient for making effective development possible in the first place, and many other government policies beyond those on aid are holding back aid's effectiveness and stopping it really working to end global poverty. There is even a risk that governments are now abandoning their promises to make aid work for development.

At the end of November, decision makers from countries all over the world will come together to look at how well they have kept their commitments, and to make new agreements for the coming years. This is the crucial time for the international community to make sure that development activities actually result in better lives, and the promotion of equity and human rights, including women rights. It is the time for better cooperation between the very people that aid is supposed to support, and governments.

Please sign the petition asking governments to make this happen, to support people's organizations to do their work in development, and to ensure that citizens' voices are heard in development and aid decisions.