Two young campaigners from Platform2, the international volunteering scheme run by Christian Aid and BUNAC, got the chance to interview Sir Bob Geldof this week.
Heather Kitt and Farzan Patel, who were picked to attend an international development conference as youth reporters, proved to be Paxmans-in-the-making when questioning Sir Bob, international development secretary Douglas Alexander and World Bank boss, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on global poverty issues.
Over 500 delegates including development experts, scientists, economists and aid agencies gathered this week at the London conference hosted by the Department for International Development (DFID).
They discussed the future of development in light of the global financial crisis.
The conference comes ahead of the London G20 meeting in April and ahead of a new White Paper later this year that will set out what Britain will do in the next five years to reduce world poverty.
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G8 ‘backtracking’ on promises
Addressing the conference, Bob Geldof expressed his concern that developed countries were backtracking on their commitment to increase their aid flows to 0.7% because of their own financial downturns.
He pointed out that the amount of money pledged to developing countries is tiny compared to the hundreds of billions currently being spent bailing out our banks.
‘Berlusconi doesn’t give a shit,’ Geldof said in his trademark style, singling out Italy’s prime minister for going back on his word.
But British prime minister Gordon Brown told the conference that the UK was still committed to keeping to the 0.7% pledge made at the G8 summit in 2005, in spite of our own national budget deficit:
‘Let me say that whilst there may be others who are tempted to shy away from their responsibilities, we in Britain will keep them – and we will keep our promises on aid,’ he said.