Oxfam supporters call for aid promises to be kept

20 April 2009

What can you do with £863 million? Well, if you're the UK government you can decide whether to put it towards a third of a nuclear submarine, or you can use it to help pay for 1.3 million teachers throughout Africa.

Late last week we got wind of the fact that in Wednesday's budget government promises of hard cash for development were about to be slashed over the next two years. It's a difficult time at the moment and Oxfam understand the pressures that people in the UK face.

Through our own work in the UK we can see that people living in poverty need help from the government. From our work abroad we know that people in the developing world are being hit by the global financial crisis and also need help now.

So, with huge cuts of £863 million at stake this year , £1.4 billion at stake for next year, Oxfam's UK-wide network of activists kicked into gear. Emails were fired off, MP surgeries were visited and faxes were, erm, faxed.

There's still time for you to write to your MP about this, or any poverty issue. It's very simple to do and you can find out who they are, and how to contact them, here. They might even be pleased to hear from you.

I was fairly impressed at receiving a hand written response the very next day from my MP. He assured me that, as my representative, he'd (once again) take up an issue. Hundreds of others, at very short notice, have done the same.

We'll find out on Wednesday whether the government is sticking to their earlier promises or not. But we already know that Oxfam campaigners will be waiting intently for the result.

Ian Sullivan is a campaigner at Oxfam

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