Commonwealth asked to increase aid to poor

Press, 7 October 1987, Page 15

Commonwealth asked to increase aid to poor

, pa London NZPA correspondent New Zealand and other Commonwealth donor , countries must redouble their efforts and give poor , countries priority in aid, a Commonwealth Secretariat report has said. The document, which is to form the basis for discussion at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Vancover later this month, said the New Zealand still provided only 0.27 per cent of its gross national product in aid, compared with a target of 0.7 per cent. “There is growing con-

cern within the Commonwealth that without a significant increase in aid, the adjustment and development efforts of poor countries, especially those in sub-Saharan Africa, could be jeopardised,” the report said. Australia and Britain each gave 0.32 per cent of G.N.P. and Canada gave 0.48 per cent.

The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Sir Shridath Ramphal, noted that 1987 marked the fortieth anniversary of the Marshall Plan, a plan “under which the United States provided up to 2.5

per cent of its national product to secure the rehabilitation of Western Europe's war-torn economy.

“The Commonwealth's own share of the world’s wealth may not qualify it to launch a new global plan against poverty,” he said.

“But the Commonwealth, at whose table leaders from developed and developing nations meet in a spirit of partnership, could well provide the stimulus for a revival of the vision that inspired the Marshall Plan.”