Concerns mount that financial austerity measures will reduce aid for millennium goals

Concerns are growing among United Nations officials that the speed at which rich countries are implementing austerity measures to reduce public debt will adversely affect the amount of aid earmarked for meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

A senior UN official, who spoke on the condition of non-attribution, said rich countries were “about to slash their aid budgets.” He was speaking ahead of the Group of 8 (G8) summit in Muskoka, Canada, on 25 and 26 June and of the Group of 20 (G20) in Toronto on 26 and 27 June.

Health and development advocacy groups, including Oxfam International and Action Aid, are calling on rich …