For some months now I've been reading, blogging and tweeting about food-poverty and, believe me, it's a grim watch to be on. Although the UN's millennium goal on poverty was met five years early, there are still perhaps 0.8bn people who are desperately poor, probably more since covid struck.
It strikes
me that, for as long as any of our fellow-humans is starving, pretty well all
human activity (apart from famine-relief itself) should take a lower priority. So
much of what we do, particularly in the realm of leisure, entertainment and
luxury, seems to be in appallingly bad taste for as long as the money we spend
could be put to indubitably better use. I don't mean this censoriously,
including myself among the guilty rich!
While
personal donations have a noble role to play, they are a drop in the ocean when
compared with the immense giving-power of governments. It is particularly
tragic that the British government is cutting aid from 0.7% to 0.5% of grossnational income, and, worse, 72% of voters agree with them (some wanting it cut
to 0%). Although the World Food Programme gets some $8bn a year, it just
scratches the surface.
I fear
we're all in for a drubbing at judgement-day if we can't say that we've
properly addressed the matter and moderated our enjoyments in order to do so. It's
not enough to say that poverty is caused by politics and war and/or that some
aid goes astray. There are sure-fire ways of ensuring that the hungry are fed
and, if they were right in front of us, we'd probably do something.
If you
want to do something yourself now, please give to the World Food Programme
through my justgiving appeal. Politically, please do all you can to persuade G7
and other nations to sustain and increase their giving. In the UK, the aid
budget goes through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office who are
scrutinised by the relevant House of Commons committee. Lobbyists in this area
are Bond. Start a dialogue on aid with your deputy, senator, TD or MP.