On December 6, Oxfam released a report showing that 45 million children will die, and another 97 million will be unable to go to school, because of poverty that could be eliminated if the seven most industrialized countries fulfilled their 1970 commitment to dedicate 0.7% of GDP to eliminating Third World poverty. Oxfam International Director Jeremy Hobbs told the media that rich countries have actually halved the proportion of GDP dedicated to foreign aid since the 1960s. At the same time, he said, the amount of money paid by the world’s poorest countries to rich nations to service debts had increased to US$100 million a day.

From Green Left Weekly, December 15, 2004.
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