CARITAS Australia has added its voice to other groups protesting against the Federal Government’s cuts of $650 million from Australia’s official aid program in the 2013-14 financial year.
Caritas Australia chief executive officer Paul O’Callaghan said it was “unfortunate such a decision had been made in the first year of our partnership with the new government”.
He said the generosity of the Australian public, bolstered by Caritas’ 40-year partnership with the Australian Government, had led to beneficial change in many countries.
“In the last year alone, this partnership enabled Caritas Australia to reach more than 1.1 million people across 20 countries,” Mr O’Callaghan said.
Other organisations such as Care, Save the Children, ChildFund, Plan International and the Fred Hollows Foundation – who also have partnership agreements with the Government – have had their funding cut by about eight per cent.
The Australian Christian Lobby also expressed disappointment at the funding cuts, announced on January 18.
ACL managing director Lyle Shelton said Christians had been at the forefront in urging the both Labor and the Liberal-National Party Coalition to keep the Millennium Development Goal promises, which included increasing aid to 0.7 per cent of gross national income by 2015.
“Like Labor’s deferrals of aid increases in the past two budgets, the Coalition’s cuts have come as a big disappointment to Christians who believe that we should be generous with our aid,” he said.
Mr Shelton said the United Kingdom, whose budget and economic situations were far worse than Australia’s, was on track to meet its MDG aid promise on aid this financial year.
“If the UK can do it, so can we,” he said.
“While great strides have been made in lifting people out of poverty, 29,000 children die every day from preventable diseases.
“Clearly there is much more to be done.”
Mr O’Callaghan said the cuts had caused significant strain on some of the agency’s existing commitments.
“Caritas will however strive to ensure the impact of these cuts is felt least in those communities most vulnerable to poverty and injustice,” he said.
Mr O’Callaghan said “despite this unforeseen, mid-year change to our partnership agreement with the Government, we remain committed to promote peace, justice and dignity for the poorest of the poor”.
“In Bangladesh, the percentage of families that can afford three meals a day has risen from 36 per cent in 2005 to 100 per cent in 2012,” he said.
“And closer to home in Oecusse, Timor Leste, Caritas Australia’s food and security program has reduced these communities ‘hunger months’ from four months per year to just one month.”
Mr O’Callaghan said Caritas Australia was looking to the Federal Budget in May in the hope the situation improved.
“We wish to really encourage the Government to see official aid and development programs as an important investment with developing countries,” he said.
“We should not forget how countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Brazil have been helped in the past.
“These countries no longer rely on aid after many years of co-operation from organisations such as Caritas Australia and AusAid.”
The Federal Government in making the announcement of cuts in overseas aid said it needed to redirect funding towards domestic infrastructure.
