Paying for poverty

Edmund Woodfield considers why we should spend our hard-earned money helping people in other countries.

''In the words of Benjamin Franklin, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” But, when it comes to what the government spends our taxes on, a lot of people aren’t convinced international development should be a priority.'' ''Gallup International polled Americans to see how much aid they thought America gave as a proportion of its income. Although the actual figure was 0.22% (one of the lowest amongst developed countries) 18% of those polled chose ranges from 5% to over 25%.''

In the words of Benjamin Franklin, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” But, when it comes to what the government spends our taxes on, a lot of people aren’t convinced international development should be a priority. The reasoning behind this is simple: British people pay these taxes and British people should benefit from them.

Nevertheless, for many people, there is a moral imperative to help those who are not as fortunate as we are. It’s hard to see a video of children dying of starvation and say that it’s not up to us to do anything about it. We have a duty to the rest of humanity to fight against such poverty and it doesn’t matter whether it’s on our doorstep or thousands of miles away.

Perhaps people oppose spending money on international development because they overestimate what proportion of our income is spent on foreign aid. In 2005, Gallup International polled Americans to see how much aid they thought America gave as a proportion of its income. Although the actual figure was 0.22% (one of the lowest amongst developed countries) 18% of those polled chose ranges from 5% to over 25%. If I thought more than a quarter of my country’s money was being spent on overseas development I’d be worried about the results it’s currently achieving. I think most people would agree that it’s reasonable to be spending more than the 0.52% the UK spent in 2006.

Another reason people give for being suspicious of international aid is that the money goes to corrupt regimes. I’d be a fool if I claimed that corruption is not a problem, but governments and international organisations are aware of the issues involved and how to deal with them. The fact is that if we were able to account for every penny spent on aid, it would be because it had all been spent on accountants. A sensible balance needs to be found, and in my view, most of the time we get it right.

Finally, international development is important because our world is now such a small place. A crisis in a faraway country leaves traces around the globe. Poverty can result in conflicts, refugee crises and increasing corruption. Instead of waiting to deal with the consequences of poverty, we should be ready to deal with the causes, which in the long run will be a better use of our resources.

So the next time someone asks you why our taxes and charity should go towards alleviating poverty in other nations, you have three weapons: their conscience, the statistics and their own self-interest.