Skip to main content
Media Contact us Call: 1800 088 110 Image Alt Image Alt
\ Blogs \ ACFID 2010 Federal election call to the parties

ACFID 2010 Federal election call to the parties

Campaigning for change article written on the 20 Jul 2010

This federal election, the Australian Council of International Development (of which Oxfam Australia is a member) is calling on all major political parties and all political candidates to commit Australia to play its full part in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

To help achieve these goals, agreed to by 189 heads of state and government in 2000, Australian NGOs working in international development ask the next Australian government to deliver better aid, more aid and just aid through the actions outlined in ACFID Call to the Parties: 2010 Federal Election:

Key recommendations of ‘ACFID Call to the Parties’

MORE AID

  • Announce a clear timetable for accelerating growth in the Aid Budget to 0.7% of Gross National Income and collaboratively develop a Strategic Framework to position AusAID to manage the growth in the Aid Budget more effectively
  • Support the introduction of the ‘Robin Hood tax’ on global financial market transactions to help fund development assistance and climate change adaptation

BETTER AID

  • Increase the share of development assistance delivered through NGOs and skilled volunteer programs from 7% to at least 10% of the Aid Budget
  • Create the position of Ambassador for Women’s Rights, to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in our region
  • Develop a mechanism within the AusAID Office of Development Effectiveness to monitor the impact of development programs on the rights and well-being of the poorest 20% in focus communities
  • Promote the ratification, implementation and monitoring of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, especially in the Asia and Pacific regions

JUST AID

  • Increase funding to:
    • health to 20% of the overall Aid Budget (around $1200 million a year by 2012) – the emphasis of this funding should be on maternal and child health to help achieve MDG outcomes
    • primary and secondary education to around $400 million per annum – with a focus on supporting girls to complete primary school, in line with MDG targets
    • rural livelihoods to 12-14% of the Aid Budget over three years ($800 million by 2013) – priority should be given to supporting smallholder farmers, the majority of whom are women
  • Fully fund the government’s strategy ‘Development for All: Towards a disability-inclusive Australian aid program 2009-2014’
  • Ensure assistance to meet the challenge of climate change is new money (around $600 million by 2012-2013), not funds redirected from other development priorities and that it is aimed, primarily, at assisting the most vulnerable communities in our region
  • Increase humanitarian funding within the AusAID Global Program budget to 10% and create predictable multiyear contingency funding for emergencies

Read more blogs

Bangladesh: Mst. Doulotunnesa's community has been severely impacted by climate change, with increasingly high temperatures and increasing levels of salinity in the water. Mst Doulotunnesa, along with other women from the community, attended training sessions by Oxfam partner organisation, Breaking the Silence. This training covered climate change, gender equality and women's empowerment. Photo: Fabeha Monir/Oxfam.

A revolutionary new tool measuring the costs of climate change in Bangladesh

Communities in low-income countries feel the impacts of climate change more than anyone — and those impacts are not always obvious from the outside.   Alongside the destruction and devastation...

Read more
South Sudan: Achol Ring Tong Longar, 21, washing her hands after arriving at the South Sudan border from war torn Sudan. Photo: Peter Caton/Oxfam

The Cholera Outbreak in South Sudan

South Sudan is currently experiencing its largest-ever cholera outbreak, with confirmed cases reported across multiple states. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), from September 28, 2024, to April 11,...

Read more
South Sudan: Thousands of refugees from Sudan are currently living in makeshift homes in the transit centre in Renk, South Sudan, with more refugees arriving every day. Photo: Herison Philip Osfaldo/Oxfam

The Sudan Civil War: An Overview

Nearly 13 million people have fled their homes during the recent conflict in Sudan. That’s nearly one third of Sudan’s population. A large proportion are seeking refuge in neighbouring South...

Read more