We will spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from abject and dehumanising poverty.

Millennium Declaration Since 2000, when world leaders committed to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) aimed at halving poverty and improving human wellbeing by 2015 great progress has been made. More children than ever before are surviving to their fifth birthday (and beyond) with child mortality reduced 37% since 1990. More women are receiving skilled care during pregnancy and childbirth with maternal mortality reduced by 47% since 1990. An additional 110 million children around the world are now in school. The MDG target on safe drinking water has been achieved with 89% of the worlds population drinking from an improved water source. But much remains to be done. 287,000 women still die each year from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. 7.6 million children each year still do not live to celebrate their fifth birthday. 2.5 billion people still live without access to adequate sanitation. Its time to finish what we started.

ACTION #1: ACCELERATE PROGRESS MORE AID Effective aid saves lives, improves education, supports opportunities and empowerment, especially for women and girls, and helps communities recover from disasters and become more resilient.
Independent evaluations show that Australian aid is reducing poverty, contributing to development and suffers virtually no loss to fraud (just 17 cents out of every $1000 invested). Since Prime Minister John Howards 2005 pledge to double the aid budget, all parties have committed to increase aid and enhance its effectiveness, so that aid will reach 50 cents in every $100 of national income (0.5% GNI) by 201617. Australia can do even more. We have one of the strongest economies among developed nations, yet we rank just 13th out of 23 developed-country aid donors. Micah Challenge is calling on Australia to finish what we have started by outlining a timetable to reach the international aid target of 0.7% GNI by 2020.

ACTION #2: ACCELERATE PROGRESS EFFECTIVE AID Of all the MDGs, the goals related to hunger, education and health are the most off-track. Australian aid spending on health, including water and sanitation, should reach $885 million in 201213 (about 17% of the overall aid budget). While this is a small increase on last year, health spending has largely remained stagnant for the past few years, and indeed seems to be trending downwards as a proportion of Australias total aid.
East Timor shows how targeted aid can significantly improve health. Around one-third of East Timors health spending is supported externally; Australia contributes 30% of the nations aid. With this

support, East Timor has reduced child mortality by two-thirds, achieving its MDG target years ahead of schedule. To contribute to saving lives, improving public health, and addressing global health challenges such as the spread of TB, Australia needs to increase its investment in other partner countries, where need is great and aid for health has not been strongly prioritised. Part of this health spending needs to address the plight of the 2.5 billion people living without access to basic sanitation and the 772 million people living without access to safe drinking water. The World Health Organisation estimates that ensuring access to water, sanitation and hygiene for all would save the lives of more than two million children each year. Australian support for this critical area is moving in the right direction. Australia has joined the international Sanitation and Water for All initiative and has allocated $161 million to water, sanitation and hygiene in 201213 (up from $117 million in 201112). However, this still falls well short of the $500 million annually, which represents our fair share of ensuring access to water and sanitation for all. Micah Challenge is calling on Australia to finish what we have started by investing at least 25% of the aid budget in health including $500m annually on water, sanitation and hygiene (with at least half of this amount directed towards sanitation and hygiene, where attention is most needed).

ACTION #3: RELEASE THE BRAKE ON DEVELOPMENT TACKLE TAX EVASION & CORRUPTION While aid accelerates progress to end poverty, corruption and tax evasion acts as a brake. Developing countries lose vast amounts of money each year due to tax evasion, corruption and illicit financial flows. Most of the money that is taken illicitly from developing countries is not stolen by corrupt politicians and dictators, but rather through the tax dodging of large multinational corporations.
In 2008 alone, developing countries lost more than USD $160 billion through corporate tax evasion. This figure a conservative estimate of just one form of tax evasion dwarfs the USD $120 billion these countries received in aid in the same year. By aggregating their reporting on a global basis rather than reporting what they earn and what they pay in every country in which they operate multinational corporations are able to hide payments made to governments, and shift their tax obligations from one jurisdiction to another, thus depriving many countries of sustainable revenue. Requiring companies to report their revenues, taxes and royalties on a country-bycountry basis will help governments of developing countries hold corporations to account for the taxes they pay (or dont pay) and will help citizens hold their governments to account for the revenues they receive. In addition, it will also level the playing field for companies such as Rio Tinto, which already reports on a country-bycountry basis, as well as BHP, Alumina, Alcoa and Ivanhoe Australia, who will soon be required to do so by US law. Micah Challenge is calling on Australia to introduce country-by-country reporting for all multinational companies registered in Australia, starting with those operating in extractive industries.

WHAT WE ARE ASKING YOU TO DO

1. Pledge to finish well add your piece to the HALVE POVERTY BY 2015 puzzle: www.finish2015.com.au/politicianpledge 2. Make a speech in Parliament (speech notes available) 3. Write to the Treasurer/Shadow Treasurer expressing support for these asks 4. Attend a Finish the Race event in your electorate 5. Raise awareness in your electorate or on your website
Micah Challenge is a global movement of Christians speaking out against poverty and injustice. www.micahchallenge.org.au