Enough is enough: silent poor must not suffer

EVERYONE is feeling the pinch these days. As always though, it is the poor and the vulnerable who suffer most.

In a global context we in Ireland have much to be grateful for. This economic crisis, which was caused in the main by the unfettered greed of western commercial institutions, is now causing misery throughout the world.

In this country and throughout the “developed” world many are paying with their jobs, but in poorer countries it is costing thousands of people, especially children, their lives.

Despite the promises made in the UN by more prosperous nations, including Ireland, at the beginning of the millennium, almost half the world’s population — more than three billion people — still live in poverty, ie, on less than $2.50 a day.

Plan Ireland is primarily concerned with the welfare and development of impoverished children, a billion of whom live in poverty. Hundreds of millions of children do not have adequate shelter or access to safe water or health services. Almost 30,000 children under the age of five die needlessly every day.

The Government has made a number of cuts to the aid budget — the most recent e95m — and it is feared further cuts are being considered.

We believe it is unconscionable to ask the silent poor of the developing world to shoulder any more of the burden. We appeal to those in positions of power to resist the temptation to make any further cuts. Enough is enough.

David Dalton

Plan Ireland

Lr Baggot Street

Dublin 2