Five years ago today (3 February) Nelson Mandela challenged world leaders to make poverty history before a crowd in Trafalgar Square, London.
"Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great," he told those assembled. "You can be that great generation."
His words were to echo around the world. In the UK and across the world they mobilised the Make Poverty History campaign – one of the biggest grass roots movements ever seen.
Hundreds of thousands of people came together through the spring and summer of 2005 to demand debt relief, trade justice and a better deal for the world’s poor.
Live 8 and countless other events captured the mood, fuelling belief that everybody could make a difference.
It was a message heard - and responded to - by the leaders of the G8 at the landmark Gleneagles summit.
In the intervening five years, the Department for International Development has led the way in meeting the commitments made that day.
Fundamental to the UK's commitments was the target of spending 0.7% of gross national income on official development assistance (ODA) by 2013.
Today, a draft bill is before Parliament that, if passed, will enshrine this target in law.
But DFID has also made significant progress on other Gleneagles commitments.
Africa
The commitment
To provide $50 billion of extra aid by 2010 of which Africa would receive $25 billion
The outcome
UK aid to Africa is on track to increase from £1.3 billion in 2004 to £3.4 billion in 2010.
UK funding has helped more than seven million people in sub-Saharan Africa gain access to clean water and sanitation between 2004-08, with all of the health benefits that brings.
More than 80,000 child deaths in sub-Saharan Africa have been prevented with the delivery of 14.6 million bed nets to tackle malaria. These come from a pledge of 20 million nets by 2010 that the Prime Minister made in 2008.
We have helped an additional two million children attend school in Mozambique in recent years.
The G8 countries committed to 100% multilateral debt cancellation.
The outcome
28 countries - 22 of which are African - have received 100% debt cancellation including Malawi, Rwanda, Zambia, Cameroon and Sierra Leone.
Last month, Afghanistan and the Republic of Congo reached completion point.
Seven other African countries can achieve full cancellation of debts when they meet the necessary conditions.
Full financing and implementation of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) which has delivered debt relief worth over $117 billion alongside the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI).
Burundi has used $89 million HIPC funding to continue to support free primary education, building over 1000 additional classrooms, and free health services for children under five and women in childbirth.
Universal access to HIV treatment, prevention, care and support
The outcome
4 million people now receive AIDS treatment - a tenfold increase over five years.
We provided anti-retroviral drugs to almost 100,000 people living with HIV in 2007/08.
We distributed half a billion condoms in 2007/08 - preventing further infections.
We have increased research funding for an AIDS vaccine and development of more effective treatments by 50%.
We are investing £200 million on social protection programmes to provide food and money for basic health and education for the most vulnerable households and children affected by AIDS in eight African countries by 2011.
We are supporting 5.5 million children in primary schools in our priority countries.
We have helped to vaccinate 350 million children from polio.
In 2007/08 we vaccinated more than three million children against measles.
We trained 100,000 teachers and built 12,000 classrooms in 2007/08.
We have helped improve the access of poor and vulnerable people to free health care in eight countries since 2005 - Zambia, Ghana, Burundi, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nepal, Malawi and Uganda.
Since 2005, we have helped to treble the number of children getting health care in Burundi and more than double the number of babies born in health units.
We are strengthening the ability of poorer nations to deliver basic services to their own people.
Making trade fair for everyone – including the world’s poorest.
The outcome
We remain fully committed to concluding the World Trade Organisation Doha Development Round as early as possible. A deal would give the global economy a confidence boost, deliver real benefits for the world’s poorest countries, reform world agriculture markets and help tackle growing protectionist sentiment. We continue to take every opportunity to press others to show real political will and engagement to achieve the progress we need.
We played a leading role in securing flexible, development-friendly trading arrangements between the EU and 36 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. These 36 countries now receive duty-free, quota-free access into the EU on all products, and improved Rules of Origin on textiles, clothing and fisheries. In Ghana, banana production has doubled since it initialled an Economic Partnership Agreement in 2008.
We have worked with Fairtrade organisations that now certify goods worth more than $2 billion globally, benefiting over 7 million producers and their families.
Our leadership on the North South Corridor Project to upgrade the transport systems of eight African countries has secured $1.2 billion of commitments from other donors and made trade easier.
In our 2009 White Paper we committed to increase spending on growth and trade to £1 billion per year over the next three years.
Nelson Mandela speaking in Trafalgar Square in 2005.
Photo credit: Make Poverty History
“Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom. The steps that are needed are clear.”
