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Final Question. Are YOU willing to give up 1% of your money to save a child’s life?? Why or why not????. Poverty cycle video. http://www.girleffect.org/video. Debt and Aid . Two big issues seriously affect poor countries’ chances of beating poverty. One is the amount of aid they get.
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Final Question • Are YOU willing to give up 1% of your money to save a child’s life?? • Why or why not????
Poverty cycle video • http://www.girleffect.org/video
Debt and Aid • Two big issues seriously affect poor countries’ chances of beating poverty. • One is the amount of aid they get. • The other is the amount of debt they repay. • In 2007 the total debt owed by developing countries was a staggering $3.4 trillion • Those countries spent $540 billion servicing these debts.
The problem of international debt • If a country is spending its cash on repaying debts –there isn’t much left to spend on vital services such as hospitals and schools. • For every $1 that poor countries receive in aid, they pay out more than $2 in debt service. • In 2008-09 rich countries spent 70 times more on bailing out the banks than they did on aid to the world’s poorest people. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnwxvDnjyDc&playnext=1&list=PL2F95CFED5D754D95
One solution • The ROBIN HOOD tax on corporate banking transactions: • take from the rich and give to the poor • This is a Financial Transaction Tax • A tiny tax of about 0.05% on transactions like stocks, bonds, foreign currency and derivatives. could raise $650 billion a year globally. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSms77fPQAY • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYtNwmXKIvM
Canada’s role… • In 2005 Canada was spending only 0.34% of GNP on the MDGs, less than half of the 0.7% to which we are committed. • In 2008 the Canadian government spent 0.32% of our GNP on aid to developing countries • This is a decline from two decades ago, when Canada’s spending peaked at 0.50%.
Of the 22 richest countries, only five have reached the 0.7% target: Denmark, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. • Another eleven of the countries from the European Union have agreed the meet the target. Of all 22 countries, the average contribution is 0.47%. • Sadly, Canada ranks only 14th among the 22 donor countries and still has no timeline in place to meet the 0.7% pledge. • http://www.poverty.com/internationalaid.html
So if the Canadian government is not willing to do its part, then individuals must. • It is no longer an excuse to sit around and say “Somebody should do something about this” • To quote Mahatma Ghandi “ You must become the change, you want to see in the world” • Remember 1% is all it takes to make a difference, if you save one person, you have changed the world.
Peter Singer • http://thelifeyoucansave.com/ • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onsIdBanynY&feature=player_embedded • http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/videos.html?id=1067176678
http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca/act/get-to-the-point • Poor and working • Charity water
http://www.globalissues.org/article/35/us-and-foreign-aid-assistancehttp://www.globalissues.org/article/35/us-and-foreign-aid-assistance • http://www.globalissues.org/article/715/today-over-25000-children-died-around-the-world • http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats