{"id":13181,"date":"2021-09-29T04:14:10","date_gmt":"2021-09-29T04:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=13181"},"modified":"2021-09-29T04:14:10","modified_gmt":"2021-09-29T04:14:10","slug":"decolonising-international-aid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2021\/09\/29\/decolonising-international-aid\/","title":{"rendered":"Decolonising international aid"},"content":{"rendered":"

At a time of global crisis, the Greens will provide support and reparations for the Global South by boosting international aid through Official Development Assistance, providing $4.5 billion of climate finance and reparations to 2025, and cancelling bilateral debt obligations.
\nThe Greens\u2019 funded plan to decolonise international aid will help to right historical wrongs and support countries across the world grappling with interconnected crises.
\nSenator Mehreen Faruqi, Greens spokesperson for International Aid & Development, will be delivering a keynote address at the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) conference today laying out the Greens plan.
\nGreens Senator Mehreen Faruqi said:<\/strong>
\n\u201cCountries in the Global South are facing the climate crisis, a public health crisis, and an economic crisis. It\u2019s time Australia stepped up and provided appropriate international aid to help countries combat these interconnected crises.
\n\u201cAs a wealthy, colonial country, Australia has a responsibility to contribute its fair share of aid, and pay reparations for its role in the climate crisis and the ongoing damage caused by Western imperialism.
\n\u201cWomen carry a disproportionate burden of these crises, but their voices go unheard. We must refocus our aid program to centre on the rights and self determination of women and girls, ensure clear gender equity targets and deliver aid through a feminist lens.
\n\u201cThis is the defining decade for climate action and Australia must commit to providing its fair share of climate finance at COP26.
\n\u201cIn the last decade Australia has been cutting aid, while the rest of the world has been doing the opposite. Shamefully and embarrassingly, we are near the bottom of global aid rankings. We are failing our Pacific neighbours who have water lapping at their doorstep.
\n\u201cThe Greens will boost international aid and provide billions of additional funding for climate finance.
\n\u201cThe cascading legacies of colonialism have locked communities into poverty and economic underdevelopment with mounting debts they will never be free of. By cancelling bilateral debt obligations, Australia can be a global champion for debt forgiveness and start to turn the page on the crushing levels of debt owed to wealthy countries by poorer countries.
\n\u201cThe Greens\u2019 vision is to reimagine aid as not simply charity, but as a matter of global justice. Aid should never be a way to further our national ambitions or greedy trade interests.
\n\u201cAid programs should work to right historical wrongs and build communities in parts of the world that have been left destitute.\u201d
\nThe Greens plan will:<\/strong><\/p>\n