Mark Tran, Guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 8 September 2010 11.40 BST
“More than half of Britons think development aid is wasted and do not support the coalition government’s policy of ring-fencing assistance for poor countries, a survey shows.
Aid to Developing Countries: Where does the UK Public Stand?, published by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) in Brighton, recommends development groups take a new approach to communicating with the public about how and when aid works to address perceptions that most aid is wasted.
The aid budget is protected from spending cuts because the government is committed to meeting the UN target of spending 0.7% of national income on aid by 2013, but the survey found that 63% of people think aid to poor countries should be cut as the government seeks to reduce the budget deficit, while 52% think most UK aid to developing countries is ineffective…”
