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Fascinating UN Facts
Read an important article by Hannah Ritchie (Our World in Data) on foreign aid and the United Nations by scanning this QR code.
Most countries spend less than 1% of their national income on foreign aid; even small increases could make a big difference
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Foreign aid has played a crucial role in improving the lives of millions around the world, from supplying food during famines to fighting diseases such as polio, HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis.
These big successes have been achieved with a relatively small amount of money. In 2023, the world gave around $240 billion in foreign aid — a tiny fraction of most rich countries’ economies. In fact, only five developed countries met the UN’s target to give 0.7% of their gross national income (GNI) to foreign aid.
As you can see in the chart, most aid comes from governments, not large private philanthropic donors. This means that citizens can strongly influence the global aid budget by building public support for more generous aid budgets from our governments.
Let’s imagine that the public in developed countries pressured their governments to step up and meet the UN’s 0.7% target. If all developed countries achieved this, we’d add an extra $216 billion, almost doubling the amount of foreign aid from governments.
