19/01
26
February
2001
Speech
given
by
the
Rt
Hon
Gordon
Brown
MP,
Chancellor
of
the
Exchequer
at
the
International
Conference
Against
Child
Poverty
1.
Why
children,
why
now?
From
here
in
London,
Clare
Short
and
I
want
to
welcome
and
thank
all
of
you
who
gather
here
today
from
every
continent
--
leaders
of
global
organizations
and
of
Governments
--
each
with
your
own
proud
history
and
traditions,
each
with
your
own
unique
record
of
service
and
commitment,
who
have
come
together
because
of
:
- our
shared
concern:
for
the
many
millions
of
the
world's
children
who
live
on
the
knife's
edge
of
bare
existence
- our
shared
indignation:
at
the
senseless
tragedy
of
young
lives
lost
to
disease
and
despair
- our
shared
belief:
that
the
future
we
want
for
our
own
children
is
also
what
we
want
for
all
the
world's
children;
- and
most
of
all
because
of
our
shared
conviction
that
what
can
be
achieved
together
by
unity
of
purpose
is
far
greater
than
what
we
can
ever
achieve
acting
on
our
own.
back
to
top
It
is
by
putting
the
needs
of
the
young
and
the
poor
not
only
at
the
centre
of
social
policy
but
at
the
centre
of
financial
decision-making,
economic
policy
and
international
diplomatic
action,
we
can
ensure
a
better
future
-
a
future
of
health
and
hope
-
in
which
no
child
is
left
behind
and
every
child,
in
every
country,
has
the
opportunity
to
make
the
very
most
of
his
or
her
abilities.
Yet
today
we
can
predict
with
grim
precision
that
as
long
as
children's
needs
are
seen
as
incidental
and
not
integral
to
what
we
as
Governments
do;
as
long
as
they
are
a
part
and
not
at
the
heart
of
all
policy
decisions
we
make;
each
and
every
day
of
this
year
30,000
children
will
lose
the
fight
they
are
waging
for
life.
Seven
million
children
will
perish
before
reaching
their
first
birthday.
Over
ten
million
will
die
before
the
age
of
five.
And
let
us
not
equate
mere
survival
with
strength:
in
the
developing
world,
150
million
children
are
underweight,
at
severe
risk
to
their
mental
and
physical
development.
Worldwide,
120
million
children
go
without
even
five
years
of
schooling,
their
chances
crippled
by
disease,
natural
disasters
and
war
before
life's
journey
has
even
begun.
This
is
the
face
of
poverty
today
in
the
places
and
among
the
people
left
behind
-
staggering,
disfiguring,
galling,
grinding
poverty:
the
face
of
global
poverty
is
the
face
of
a
young
child.
And
it
is
an
affront
to
our
basic
belief
in
the
equal
worth,
and
inherent
potential,
of
every
human
life.
It
is
a
challenge
to
the
values
at
the
core
of
our
character.
Those
of
us
in
the
developed
world,
many
of
whom
are
enjoying
unprecedented
plenty,
must
regard
poverty
on
this
scale
not
only
as
an
economic
challenge,
but
also
a
moral
imperative
of
the
highest
order.
I
agree
with
those
who
say
that
good
times
are
as
stern
a
test
of
character
as
bad
times.
In
this
era
of
prosperity,
more
than
ever,
the
world's
children
must
become
our
cause.
In
that
spirit,
let
us
start
by
paying
tribute
to
the
powerful
example
set
by
Nelson
Mandela
and
Graca
Machel.
No
two
individuals
have
done
more
to
speak
up
for
the
future.
And
when
Nelson
Mandela
tells
the
children
of
the
world
--
'If
I
could
promise
you
every
one
of
your
days
will
be
a
day
of
leaning
and
growing,
I
would
but
I
promise
you
what
I
know
I
can
deliver:
to
work
every
day
in
every
way
to
support
you
as
you
grow';
back
to
top
And
when
Graca
Machel
says
--
'I
have
seen
how
one
year
of
school
changes
a
child
...
I
have
seen
a
generation
of
children
armed
with
education
lift
up
a
nation';
Then
we
know
that,
as
we
approach
the
UN
Special
Session
on
Children
this
September,
these
two
leaders
are
inspiring
-
and
Carol
Bellamy
and
Unicef
and
UNDP
are
assembling
-
a
new
global
partnership
for
children
so
wide,
so
powerful
and
so
determined
that
no
obstacle
should
be
allowed
to
impede
its
path
of
progress.
For
if
this
is
a
moment
of
urgency,
it
is
also
a
moment
of
profound
opportunity.
Today
we
are
also
privileged
to
be
hearing
from
Horst
Kohler
and
James
Wolfensohn,
who
have
just
returned
from
a
pathbreaking
trip
to
Africa...
-
who
heard
the
clarion
call
of
an
extraordinary
coalition
of
faith
groups,
NGOs
and
multilateral
organisations....
- who
together
brought
the
world's
richest
nations
to
whom
so
much
is
given,
and
the
world's
poorest
nations
whose
needs
are
greatest,
into
a
unique
alliance
to
tackle
debt
and
poverty
-
an
alliance
whose
work,
even
as
the
first
22
countries
secure
debt
relief,
has
only
just
begun
- leaders
who
because
they
recognise
the
need
for
a
virtuous
circle
of
debt
relief,
poverty
reduction
and
sustainable
development,
have,
along
with
Kofi
Annan,
the
United
Nations,
Unicef,
and
UNDP,
committed
themselves
to
an
historic
joint
declaration
from
which
there
is
no
turning
back.
- enrolling
all
children
in
primary
school;
- and
reducing
by
two
thirds
infant
and
child
mortality
rates.
back
to
top
and
it
is
a
partnership
against
poverty
which
to
succeed
will
demand
new
and
concrete
commitments;
and
the
purpose
of
this
conference
today
is
to
examine
the
detailed
means
of
reaching
these
goals.
2.
The
purpose
of
this
conference
-
a
call
to
action
First,
if
we
are
to
realize
our
shared
goals
we
must
embrace
our
shared
responsibility
-
by
setting
out
the
practical
steps
each
partner
must
take,
for
ends
will
mean
precious
little
without
the
means
to
achieve
them.
Too
often,
the
world
has
set
goals
like
the
international
development
targets
of
2015
and
failed
to
meet
them.
Too
often,
we
have
set
targets,
reset
them,
and
reset
them
again,
so
that
our
ambitions,
in
the
end,
outdistance
our
achievements.
Indeed,
though
our
targets
are
achievable,
we
are
already
in
danger
of
missing
the
mark.
Projecting
forward,
we
can
see
our
trajectory
will
fall
far
short
on
education,
on
health,
on
poverty.
So
it
is
not
enough
that
we
have
made
a
pledge.
As
Mr
Mandela
and
Ms
Machel
have
written:
'please
hold
us
to
it.'
theirs
is
a
simple
and
powerful
plea
for
the
accountability
we
all
must
demand
of
ourselves
and
demand
of
one
another.
For
if
the
sum
of
our
actions
amounts
to
no
more
than
its
parts,
we
will
be
fated
to
ask
ourselves,
in
the
year
2015,
'why
did
we
fail?'
back
to
top
If
the
worldwide
debt
campaign
has
taught
us
anything
it
is
that
we
advance
only
if
we
advance
as
one.
For
we
are
not
powerless
individuals,
but
together
have
power.
We
are
all
rich
and
poor,
old
and
young
bound
in
one
vast
network
of
mutuality,
across
all
the
lines
that
might
otherwise
divide
citizens
of
different
countries,
perhaps,
operating
from
a
thousand
different
centres
of
energy,
conscience
and
conviction,
but
members
of
the
same
global
community,
the
same
moral
universe.
Because
our
shared
responsibility
does
not
diminish
our
individual
accountability,
our
conference
must
have
a
second
purpose.
We
must
not
only
set
ourselves
on
a
specific
course
of
action,
but
each
of
us
as
partners
must
be
prepared
to
make
radical
changes
in
the
way
we
act
so
that
the
goals
of
2015
can
be
achieved.
Marching
with
us
are
not
just
the
memories
of
those
who
lost
out
when
we
have
failed
in
the
past
but
the
hopes
and
expectations,
the
dreams
and
ambitions,
of
millions
of
young
people
who
look
to
us
for
the
future.
And
their
voices
must
be
heard
too.
And
so
as
the
UK
Government
we
make
this
declaration:
that
as
we
discuss
with
all
of
you
how
to
meet
these
2015
goals,
we
will
be
ready
to
reshape
our
policies,
adjust
our
expenditures,
and
refashion
our
priorities
so
that
the
actions
of
each
of
us
make
possible
the
attainment
of
the
goals
set
by
all
of
us.
And
we
ask
all
other
participants
to
do
likewise.
Here
in
Tony
Blair's
Government,
Clare
Short
has
been
a
true
leader
in
changing
the
UK
approach,
crafting
concrete,
comprehensive
policies
for
the
problems
of
global
poverty;
increasing
her
aid
budget
by
2004
by
45
per
cent
in
real
terms,
and
untying
all
our
development
aid;
ensuring
that
development
assistance
be
directed
to
country-owned
and
community-driven
poverty
reduction
strategies;
renouncing
Britain's
right
to
benefit
from
any
of
the
highly
indebted
poor
countries;
bolstering
conflict
prevention
with
a
new
Africa
fund
and
by
banning
for
62
countries
export
credits
for
unproductive
expenditures;
and
because
growth
through
trade
is
one
of
the
best
means
of
lifting
people
up,
committing
with
all
EU
states
to
open
our
markets
to
all
products
made
in
the
least
developed
countries,
and
to
strengthen
their
voice
in
the
WTO.
back
to
top
And
today
we
hope
that
in
our
declaration
each
of
us
can
move
forward
-
making
new
commitments
that
ensure
that
the
work
of
each
institution
enhances
the
work
of
the
other,
and
that
the
whole
of
our
actions
becomes
greater
than
the
sum
of
our
parts.
Commitments
from
-
-
the
IMF
and
World
Bank:
that
the
detailed
commitments
in
the
poverty
reduction
strategies,
including
targets
to
reduce
child
poverty,
will
be
implemented
in
practice
at
the
centre
of
economic
and
financial
policy;
- from
developed
countries:
to
increase
and
untie
their
aid
commitment,
and
to
open
their
markets;
back
to
top
4.
A
call
to
action
--
to
create
the
virtuous
circle
And
today
as
we
issue
our
call
to
action,
a
call
that
we
hope
will
be
heard
and
heeded
by
all
Governments,
and
resonate
far
beyond
these
walls
and
these
borders,
there
are
two
areas
on
which
action
is
imperative:
education
and
health
in
the
world's
poorest
countries.
First,
we
know
that
education
is
a
precondition
of
progress
personal
and
national
-
the
very
best
anti-poverty
strategy,
the
best
economic
development
program.
There
is
simply
no
better
means
to
empower
the
powerless,
to
put
their
future
directly
in
their
hands.
Education
should
be
the
birthright
of
every
child.
The
case
for
investing
in
primary
education
is
unanswerable
and
remains
mostly
unanswered.
In
the
past
decade,
primary
enrolments
have
increased
at
twice
the
rate
of
the
1980s.
Still,
tragically,
130
million
children
do
not
attend
primary
school.
two-thirds
of
these
are
girls.
Almost
half
of
all
African
children
and
one-quarter
of
those
in
South
and
West
Asia
are
being
denied
this
fundamental
right,
this
basic
root
of
all
opportunity.
It
is
little
wonder,
then,
that
900
million
people
over
the
age
of
15
are
illiterate
-
one
sixth
of
the
world's
population.
back
to
top
Public
expenditure
per
pupil,
in
the
19
least
developed
countries,
is
less
than
$40
--
compared
to
$200
per
pupil
in
developing
countries,
and
$5,300
in
more
advanced
economies.
So
there
is
more
we
must
do;
and
that
approach
must
begin
with
aid.
Since
1997,
the
UK
has
increased
its
commitments
on
education
by
£500
million.
But
no
aid
budget,
and
no
one
nation,
can
achieve
enough
on
its
own.
And
because
multilateral
action
is
essential,
it
is
crucial
that
honoured
in
action
is
the
commitment
made
by
180
countries
at
the
World
Forum
on
Education
at
Dakar
to
achieving
quality
basic
education
for
all,
with
a
special
emphasis
on
education
for
girls.
And
we
must
build
on
that
commitment,
as
Graca
Machel
agrees,
extending
into
the
refugee
camps
and
even
beyond
the
confines
of
the
camps
into
the
areas
of
conflict
themselves,
helping
ensure
that
one
day,
not
even
war
or
its
aftermath
will
be
an
excuse
for
denying
a
child
his
or
her
basic
human
right
of
a
decent
education.
I
know
that
with
Prime
Minister
Amato
addressing
us
by
video
link,
and
Finance
Minister
Visco
speaking
to
our
lunch,
Italy,
president
of
the
G-7,
has
a
new
proposal
for
world
wide
action;
and
I
am
also
pleased
to
announce
that
the
British
Government
will
create,
in
Her
Majesty
the
Queen's
Jubilee
Year,
a
fund
to
speed
the
introduction
of
universal
primary
education
in
the
Commonwealth.
It
is
a
fund
to
help
the
75
million
children
in
Commonwealth
countries
who
lack
a
basic
education,
by
building
fair
and
effective
education
systems
and
creating
new
opportunity
for
girls
and
disadvantaged
groups.
And
we
will
call
on
business
to
support
this
effort.
back
to
top
We
must
also
act
-
every
bit
as
swiftly
and
purposefully
-
on
health.
We
know
that
the
poorer
the
family,
the
less
healthy
the
child.
And
we
well
know
the
cost
human
and
economic
of
infectious
disease
in
developing
countries.
Diseases
like
malaria,
tuberculosis
and
diarrhoeal
diseases
kill
8
million
children
a
year.
In
South
Africa,
Botswana
and
Zimbabwe,
half
of
all
15-year
olds
are
expected
to
die
of
aids.
In
sub-Saharan
Africa,
where
AIDS
is
the
leading
cause
of
death,
AIDS
will
cut
the
GDP
of
some
countries
by
20
per
cent.
These
are
dread
diseases.
But
let
us
not
forget
that
they
are
also
preventable.
This
knowledge
shames
us
even
as
it
spurs
us
on:
-
as
much
as
half
of
all
malaria
deaths
could
be
prevented
if
people
had
access
to
diagnosis
and
drugs
that
cost
no
more
than
12
cents;
-
a
quarter
of
all
child
deaths
could
be
prevented
if
children
slept
beneath
$4
bed-nets.
In
Africa,
only
one
per
cent
of
children
do;
-
millions
of
lives
could
be
saved
by
TB
medicines,
which
are
95
per
cent
effective
and
cost
as
little
as
$10
for
a
six-month
treatment;
-
and
millions
of
cases
of
HIV
could
be
prevented
through
well-targeted,
low
cost
prevention
and
care
strategies.
back
to
top
Where
these
strategies
have
been
implemented,
they
have
brought
results.
The
latest
UN
figures
show
that
however
limited
their
resources,
poor
countries
that
make
treatment
and
prevention
a
priority
can
stem
the
spread
of
HIV
and
AIDS
as
Uganda,
Thailand
and
Senegal
have,
and
cut
TB
deaths
by
50
per
cent,
as
China,
India
and
Peru
have.
There
is
more
that
developing
countries
can
do
to
reduce
disease
and
despair;
yet
there
is
a
natural
limit
imposed
by
their
ailing
economies.
The
countries
that
most
urgently
need
to
devote
more
resources
to
health
care
are
the
countries
that
spend
the
least
on
health
care.
For
example,
in
1999,
per
capita
health
spending
in
sub-Saharan
Africa
amounted
to
$86
--
a
mere
fifth
of
the
world
average.
So
there
is
more
we
must
do;
and,
again,
we
must
do
it
together.
Ours
should
not
be
isolated
interventions;
everything
we
do
must
mesh
with
current
efforts
to
improve
health.
This
government
has
today
issued
a
paper
on
the
merits
of
a
comprehensive
approach.
And
today,
on
behalf
of
the
British
Government,
Clare
and
I
are
pleased
to
announce
two
new
proposals
to
improve
health
in
the
countries
hit
hardest.
back
to
top
First,
where
only
10
percent
of
all
biomedical
research
is
devoted
to
diseases
that
overwhelmingly
affect
the
world's
poor,
we
will
create
new
tax
incentives
to
accelerate
the
research
done
on
diseases
like
AIDS,
TB
and
malaria.
I
am
further
prepared
to
match
that
tax
credit
for
research
done
in
the
United
Kingdom
with
a
tax
credit
for
research
done
elsewhere.
But
such
a
proposal
must
be
met
by
a
corporate
commitment
to
create
new
drugs
and
vaccines
in
ways
that
truly
meet
the
needs
of
the
poor
and
sick.
And
if
the
pharmaceutical
companies
were
prepared
to
increase
the
availability
of
treatments
on
a
pro
bono
basis
-
treatments
that
are
genuinely
needed
-
we
would
be
prepared
to
match
that
commitment
by
considering
it
as
a
tax
deduction.
Second,
a
purchase
fund
-
providing
a
credible
commitment
to
create
a
market
for
current
and
future
treatments
in
developing
countries
-
would
surely
serve
as
a
strong
incentive
to
develop
and
deliver
affordable
treatments.
That
is
why,
in
a
joint
effort
with
Italy,
the
President
of
the
G-7,
the
UK
proposes
that
a
new
global
purchase
fund
for
drugs
and
vaccines
be
created.
Both
for
treatments
that
do
not
yet
exist
but
could
be
developed
in
time
-
for
AIDS
and
malaria,
for
example
-
as
well
as
for
those
that
already
exist
and
need
to
be
purchased
now.
back
to
top
Again,
I
call
on
the
pharmaceutical
companies
to
join
us.
I
call
on
them
to
step
up
to
their
responsibility
-
to
recognize
the
scale
of
the
challenge
we
face
and
to
respond
on
an
equal
scale,
by
developing
and
delivering
affordable
treatments
for
the
world's
poor.
Because,
quite
simply,
we
cannot
save
lives
and
raise
hopes
without
their
commitment.
Conclusion
Our
purpose,
Nelson
Mandela
has
said,
'is
to
get
specific
commitments...
and
specific
results.'
And
if
we
can
do
this
in
the
world
of
tomorrow,
countries
can
be
defined
not
by
land
mass
or
military
might
as
in
the
past
but
by
the
health
and
the
achievement
of
new
generations:
the
truest
test
of
our
progress
is
that
a
mother
in
sub-Saharan
Africa
can
give
birth
without
fear;
that
a
child
in
South
Asia
has
sustenance
and
shelter;
that
a
young
man
or
woman
possesses
the
tools
and
skills
and
education
it
will
take
not
only
to
live,
but
to
thrive,
in
the
21st
century.
back
to
top
And
so
here
in
2001,
-
led
in
our
efforts
by
Nelson
Mandela
and
Graca
Machel;
-
summoned
to
act
by
the
cries
of
children;
-
indeed
inspired
by
the
children
I
have
seen
in
Jakarta
living
above
open
sewers,
yet
with
eyes
still
bright
with
expectation
and
hope;
-
moved
to
action
by
school-pupils
in
Uganda
who
we
will
hear
about
today,
who
because
of
debt
relief
will
now
see
classrooms
with
roofs,
schools
with
teachers
,
and
school
lessons
with
books;
-
shocked
into
even
greater
action
by
aid
worker
after
aid
worker
describing
mothers
fighting
to
save
the
lives
of
their
newborn
children
and,
in
that
struggle,
losing
their
own
lives
too,
avoidable
tragedies
multiplied
a
million
times
over;
-
encouraged
by
the
new
commitments
by
the
IMF
and
World
Bank
and
the
UN
family;
-
and
inspired
by
charities,
churches,
and
companies
who
are
engaged
as
never
before.
back
to
top
We
can
see
what
the
world
-
firm
of
heart
and
united
in
spirit
-
can
do
and
will
do
-
not
as
isolated
acts
of
charity,
but
as
wave
upon
wave
of
caring,
collective
endeavour,
and
compassion
in
action
...
flowing
from
this
moment,
and
this
year,
to
2015
and
well
beyond.
From
London
in
February
to
Washington's
IMF
and
World
Bank
meetings
in
April,
from
Genoa's
G-7
meetings
in
July
to
New
York's
UN
Children's
Summit
in
September,
at
every
moment,
our
thoughts
are
on
and
our
inspiration
drawn
from
the
needs
of
children
in
Jakarta,
Bangladesh,
Uganda,
and
anywhere
and
everywhere
that
poverty
and
injustice
exists,
so
that
we
will
achieve
our
goal,
the
goal
of
decent
minded
people
everywhere
in
the
world,
that
no
child
is
left
behind.
