Extra Finance
Extra Finance is aid revenue produced by other means of taxation than the traditional fraction of our national income that is currently devoted to development.
In July the G8 promised they would increase aid by $48 billion each year but only by the year 2010. This was a step in the right direction but the gradual, rather than immediate, increase in their aid budgets is not urgent enough a response to make poverty history.
Over the last year many countries, especially France and Brazil, have acknowledged that we need to reach beyond traditional sources of financing development and create new income streams to pay for clean water, healthcare and education. Recently proposals for a tax on airline tickets and a levy on foreign exchange transactions have made significant progress. This extra money could increase development spending by billions each year.
Make Poverty History urges the UK government to acknowledge the enormous potential of moving beyond traditional sources of financing aid and support the development of additional new revenue streams. The urgency of the poverty situation requires us to break new ground and be creative in how we develop the funds needed to transform the lives of the world's poorest people.