What do we want
The first 100 days of the new government is a crucial time for David Cameron. While poverty is still killing children's chances at home and abroad, we'll be testing his commitment to help them.
The new Prime Minister has said that the test of a good society is that it looks after its poorest and most vulnerable. We agree. Although 1.7 million children in the UK live in severe poverty, and 8.8 million worldwide die every year before their fifth birthday, we believe it's possible to tackle these shameful statistics.
All major parties in Parliament now agree that Britain should:
- meet its international aid commitments to save the lives of children and their mothers in the world's poorest communities, and
- take action to eradicate child poverty at home by 2020.
Save the Children would like to see this cross-party consensus extend to supporting the following actions by the British government in the coming months:
- Champion children's health and nutrition at the G8 Summit in July and the UN Millennium Review Summit in September. The Prime Minister should commit to attend the UN event and promote a credible global action plan for reducing maternal, newborn and child mortality, with a particular focus on tackling the silent emergency of child hunger.
- Announce a bill to lock in Britain’s commitment to meet the UN target of spending 0.7% of national income on development aid.
- Commit to ending severe child poverty in the UK by the end of the parliament.
- Sign up to a £3,000 ‘pupil premium’ to improve the chances of the poorest children in schools.
- Reject any rise in VAT – it would hit poor families hardest.
Poverty is killing childhood and breaking parents’ hearts — at home and abroad. Leaders must do more to stop it.
