Tell your MP to fight global poverty

IF you often find yourself reading the news and feeling helpless to the needs of people around the world, you may find comfort in this read.

Although most of us do not have enough money to change the world, our government does.

The UK, along with most other developed nations, provides overseas aid to developing countries.

The UK’s ODA (overseas development assistance) provides humanitarian aid, clean water access and education to millions of the world’s most deprived people every year.

However, in 2021, the UK’s ODA spend was cut from 0.7% of national income to 0.5% in response to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Many MPs have condemned this decision, and even more have questioned why the 0.7% target has not been reinstated years after the Covid-19 pandemic.

I recently learned that one of the most effective ways to make a difference is by emailing your MP.

The Borgen Project is an organisation fighting global poverty by advocating for government policies that support the most deprived people.

The organisation has made emailing your MP as easy as filling out a quick form.

Through this link, you can select an email template and the organisation will send the email on your behalf: https://www. borgenproject.uk/email-parliamentuk.

I recently emailed my local MP about this issue.

In response, my MP sent a letter to the Prime Minister on the topic and promised to vote for the return to the 0.7% ODA budget in parliament.

Although we can sometimes feel helpless, I hope this provides some optimism and shows that we can all play a role in creating the change we want to see in the world.

Catrin Jones

Cardiff