用户名/邮箱
登录密码
验证码
看不清?换一张
您好,欢迎访问! [ 登录 | 注册 ]
您的位置:首页 - 最新资讯
United Nations goals to fight poverty and injustice ‘missing’ from Liz Truss’s aid strategy | The Independent
2022-05-18 00:00:00.0     独立报-英国政治     原网页

       

       Flagship United Nations goals to fight extreme poverty and injustice in poor countries have been left out of a new UK overseas aid strategy, triggering fresh criticism of Liz Truss.

       The 2015 blueprint – committing countries to stamp out hunger, provide clean water and quality education and tackle gender inequality – is meant to be “fully embedded in planned activity of each government department”.

       But the sustainable development goals (SDGs) are mentioned only once in the foreign secretary’s new 30-page strategy, and only to state that the UK “support achieving” the ambitions.

       Quizzed by the international development committee, Ms Truss was told the omission is “astonishing” and asked if she is “a bit embarrassed” by the “one fleeting reference” to the UN-agreed targets.

       But she argued: “I don’t think you can judge the importance of a particular issue by the number of times it is mentioned.”

       Recommended Sri Lankan protesters include Tamil victims in war memorial Analysis: Condolence calls from elite show UAE ruler's power WHO: 2nd COVID booster for most vulnerable offers benefits

       Ms Truss insisted the goals are “baked into all the work we do” and are “core to what we are trying to achieve” in developing countries.

       The strategy has already been criticised for mentioning trade on no fewer than 27 occasions – three times the 9 mentions of poverty.

       It was described as a “depressing” intention to copy China’s much-criticised “aid for trade” approach, linking spending to opportunities to boost the UK’s international muscle.

       But Ms Truss told the committee: “We are not returning to tied aid,” – while Nick Dyer, a senior Foreign Office official, insisted: “I don’t recognise the phrase aid for trade.”

       She also confirmed her three-year aid budget – until 2025 – has been set at 0.5 per cent of national income, after last year’s Tory manifesto-busting cut from 0.7 per cent.

       The move casts fresh doubt on whether the cut will ever be reversed – something promised by ministers, but only “once the fiscal situation allows”.

       The foreign secretary also admitted that any further aid spending for Ukraine, as the war drags on, might have to mean cuts elsewhere in the shrunken budget.

       “That is precisely the discussion we are having with the Treasury,” she told the committee.

       In 2015, the UN announced 17 Sustainable Development Goals – succeeding the Millennium Development Goals – with the aim of achieving them by 2030.

       Recommended Europe accused of `double-standard' on Ukrainian refugees Liz Truss accused of turning back on world’s poorest with new ‘aid for trade’ plan Israel police to investigate conduct at journalist funeral

       Last summer, the government stated: “The UK is committed to the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals.

       “The most effective way to do this is by ensuring that the Goals are fully embedded in planned activity of each Government department. The most effective mechanism for coordinating implementation is the departmental planning process.”

       


标签:政治
关键词: Liz Truss     poor countries     trade     committee     Development     strategy     Nations goals    
滚动新闻