the UK’s responsibility to help end poverty
Today, almost 700 million people live in extreme poverty – defined as living on less than $2.15 per day – mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. However, poverty is also about quality of life, not just a lack of money. According to the 2024 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index , 1.1 billion people (over half of whom are children) live in “multidimensional poverty”, lacking access to things like education, healthcare, nutrition, and clean water and sanitation.
Progress at reducing poverty over recent decades has stalled amid low growth, setbacks due to COVID-19, and increased insecurity and conflict.
Back in 1970, the United Nations set a target for wealthy ‘donor’ nations to provide Official Development Assistance (ODA) to poorer ‘developing’ countries – 0.7% of their Gross National Income (GNI). As one of the world’s richest countries, the United Kingdom has a moral responsibility to help combat global poverty, including through reaching the 0.7% target. Yet in February 2025, the UK Government announced a reduction of its ODA budget to just 0.3% of GNI, to help fund increased military spending.
As well as providing ‘aid’ through ODA, the UK must ensure that the international development programmes it funds aim to bring about a more just, fair and equal global community, which allows every individual, wherever they are born or live, to lead a healthy, happy and fulfilled life.
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Your voice counts! Email your MP below about the UK’s responsibility to help end poverty around the world,
Bold leadership and a clear timeline on development spending
Dear [MP’s Name],
I am writing to you as a constituent who is deeply concerned about international development and the UK’s role in ending global poverty. The UK has long been a proud global leader in development, but maintaining that role requires bold leadership and a clear commitment to investing in a healthier, fairer world.
While Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has stated that international development will be central to UK foreign policy, recent FCDO reports detail damaging spending cuts – such as reducing support to the Democratic Republic of Congo by over £34 million despite an ongoing Ebola outbreak and conflict. Development spending remains under serious threat of being deprioritised.
Investing in international development is not only a moral duty – with nearly half the British public concerned about global poverty – it is also in our direct self-interest. Investing in global health defends our NHS against future pandemic threats, domestic R&D for global health creates UK jobs, and poverty reduction fosters resilient trade partnerships. Investing in development clearly delivers vital benefits both globally and for our local community here in the UK.
We need bold political leadership to change the narrative and restore the UK’s commitment to global poverty eradication. I urge you to write to the Foreign Secretary, Ed Miliband, pressing him to:
1. Set out a clear timeline to increase UK development spending and restore funding for life-saving health, education, and poverty reduction programmes.
2. Show bold leadership by publicly making the case for international development to the UK public, highlighting how global health security and poverty eradication directly benefit communities across the UK.
Thank you for your time and representation. I look forward to your response.
Yours sincerely,
[Your name]