tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15782549318426481692024-02-20T10:37:34.415-08:00The 0.7% ChallengeIn 2000, the United Nations listed 8 goals to be achieved by 2015, and asked wealthier nations to donate 0.7% of their GNI towards achieving these goals. Our governments are falling short of the 0.7% target, so as individuals, let's commit to donating 0.7% of our income to a charitable organization and making a difference this year!Lianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13354145408658237195noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578254931842648169.post-72331722609049388582007-12-02T09:29:00.001-08:002007-12-22T20:34:50.622-08:00The 0.7% ChallengeBack in 2000, the United Nations set out a series of <a href="http://mirror.undp.org/unmillenniumproject/press/qa4_e.htm">millennium development goals</a>. It also postulated that 0.7% of rich world GNI would provide sufficient resources to meet these goals. To date, only 5 countries have met this goal: Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg and Sweden. To my great shame as a Canadian, our wonderful country has only contributed 0.26% of its GNI towards international aid. Keep in mind that we had a $14 billion surplus for the 2006-2007 fiscal year. In addition to falling far short of the 0.7% target, Canada does not have a detailed timeline for achieving this.<br /><br />I'd like to propose to the readers of this blog that we take three steps. <br /><br />One: please contact your member of parliament and let them know that meeting the 0.7% challenge is important to you. If you're in the United States, feel free to contact your member of congress or senator... with its present contribution of 0.16% of the GNI towards international aid, the U.S. has a long way to go too. Don't know how to get ahold of your MP? All you need is your postal code and <a href="http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Compilations/HouseOfCommons/MemberByPostalCode.aspx?Menu=HOC">this website</a>. Email addresses are available too. <br /><br />Two: I'd like to suggest that as individuals, we each make a commitment to donating 0.7% of our annual income to some charitable organization. Any charitable organization. For a Canadian physician with an average annual income of $200,000, that's about $1,400 a year. With that amount of money, you could sponsor 4 foster children for a year through <a href=" http://sponsor.savethechildren.org/CGI-BIN/lansaweb?webapp=SPNPRD+webrtn=productcentral+ml=LANSA:XHTML+partition=PR2+language=ENG">Save the Children</a>. You could buy 23 goats through <a href=" https://payment.csfm.com/donations/unwrapped/gift.php?gift_id=1">Oxfam Canada</a> for their livelihoods program which loans goats to families. Or you could buy mosquito nets which could protect up to 350 people in Uganda from malaria, or provide a girl in Burkina Faso with a scholarship for secondary school education through <a href="http://plancanada.ca/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=194&srcid=-2">Plan Canada</a>. The <a href="www.mdgmonitor.org">MDG Monitor</a> is a great website which tracks the progress of developing countries toward the millenium development goals and also lists organizations which are helping to achieve these goals.<br /><br />Three: If you agree with what I'm proposing, please spread the word. I've started a group on Facebook called the 0.7% challenge. You can post in the comments on this blog or on Facebook about what you've done to help. And there are sneaky ways of recruiting other people... I suggested to the other residents that we sponsor a foster child and they happily agreed.<br /><br />In the United States, the most recent stats I could find show that Americans have spent 24.85 billion dollars on holiday spending from November 1-December 18 2007. Economists sugest that just $60-70 billion dollars would make a significant difference in the poorest countries in the world. <br /><br />Where are our priorities, and what are the history books going to say about our generation?Lianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13354145408658237195noreply@blogger.com1