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

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 rich countries spent 70 times more on bailing out the banks than they did on aid to the world’s poorest people.

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.

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.

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.

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