Global letter from volunteers in support of UK aid
Open letter from volunteers in support of UK aid
We write this letter as a community of volunteers tackling poverty in the developing world, to express our concern with how UK Aid has been misrepresented in the UK media in recent months. We congratulate the British Government and public on the continued spending 0.7% of public money on International Development, but are concerned that the public aren't getting the full picture.
We are ordinary people, made up of teachers, doctors, nurses, students, business people, IT specialists, engineers, and other people who have been fortunate to volunteer. We have seen first-hand how UK aid makes a practical difference to the lives of the poorest people in the world and want to share how proud we are of UK Aid. We have volunteered in most developing countries, and combined together our time volunteering abroad adds up to thousands of years.
Many of us have lived and worked in communities where far too many children die before their fifth birthday. Where girls are taken away from their families to be married before they are women. Where people struggle to get safe drinking water and enough food to survive.
But we’ve also seen that these issues can be tackled by working together with communities in developing countries. We have witnessed first-hand the difference that UK Aid can make.
We’ve worked on projects that, thanks to the British people and UK aid, achieve real change – providing clean water and sanitation, helping stop the spread of Ebola, HIV and AIDS, making sure girls get the chance to go to school, securing jobs and helping people provide an income for themselves and their families. Britain is helping communities stand on their own two feet. Through this work, we have also developed our own skills and knowledge, returning to benefit our own communities.
We have seen the huge appreciation for how the UK is leading the way. We want the British people to be aware that together we are ensuring the world is a safer, fairer and more prosperous place for everyone through UK Aid.
Signed by the below signatories.