The Commission's beliefs

The Commission firmly believes that:-

• It is our moral duty to care about other people and to help them help themselves;
• It is our duty to our children and grandchildren to address issues of poverty which may in the long-term threaten global security;
• It is the States’ duty to meet existing international obligations. Jersey is a signatory to Agenda 21 which commits Jersey to moving to a target of overseas aid funding which is comparable with that of other nation states, but is currently based on taxation revenue rather than GNP.

That the great need for overseas aid is illustrated by the following:-

• There are 1.7 million people who continue to live in extreme poverty
• Over 925 million people were undernourished in 2010. This equates to 13.6% of the estimated world population of 6.8 billion. Nearly all of the undernourished are in developing countries. Every 3.6 seconds one person dies of starvation. Usually it is a child under the age of 5.
• Some 40 million children are living without access to basic healthcare.
• More than 30% of children in developing countries - about 600 million - live on less than 1 US$ a day.
• 10 million people aged 15 - 24 are infected with HIV
• Two-thirds of the worlds 800 million illiterate adults aged 15 and over, are women