A new funding plan to deliver basic health and education for everyone is essential to end extreme poverty, according to The ONE Campaign’s DATA Report 2015: “Putting the Poorest First,” (http://www.one.org) which was launched today in Abidjan, in the margins of the African Development Bank Group Annual Meetings.
A focus on girls and women is crucial, both to address the additional deprivation they face and because smart investments in women are more effective at lifting communities out of poverty.
ONE’s analysis shows that development partners are missing their targets, and financial support for the least developed countries (LDCs) continues to fall. Although LDCs are increasingly home to those who live on less than $1.25 a day, they received less than a third of aid (30.3%) in 2014. Had that share been increased to 50%, an additional $26.5 billion would have been available to those who need it most.
ONE is calling for better targeted development assistance to be coupled with increased domestic revenues from developing countries’ own governments to fund access to basic social services for everyone by 2020. With a $152 billion funding gap to meet these basic needs worldwide, including $34.5 billion in LDCs, July’s Financing for Development (FfD) conference in Addis Ababa will be a pivotal moment in securing ambitious commitments.
