"A WORLD FREE FROM POVERTY" KEY COMMITMENT FOR RENDEL

4.05.32pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 25th Apr 2005

Speaking on World Poverty Day (Sunday 24 April), David Rendel, Liberal Democrat Candidate for the Newbury Constituency, said:

"Mass poverty and extreme inequality are the great scandals of our time.

"The rich countries of the world have never been wealthier. But the 50 poorest countries in the world are actually poorer today than they were 15 years ago.

"Yet even on World Poverty Day, European Union countries are still negotiating to put barriers in the path of trade with developing countries. We must end this unfairness.

"In addition, I am committed to increasing UK aid spending up to the UN target of 0.7% of our national wealth, and to writing off 100% of the unpayable debt of the world's poorest countries.

"These are essential policies if we are to create a world free from poverty and meet the Millennium Development Goals."

ENDS

Note:

The United Nations Human Development Report 2003 finds that, despite dramatic improvements over the past 30 years: "For many countries the 1990s were a decade of despair. Some 54 countries are poorer now than in 1990. In 21 a larger proportion of people is going hungry. In 14, more children are dying before age five. In 12, primary school enrolments are shrinking. In 34, life expectancy has fallen. Such reversals in survival were previously rare."