Speaking recently in Berlin, the representative of the Catholic aid organization Misereor, Josef Sayer, criticised the policy of support for the developing countries implemented by the German Federal government. “Chancellor Schroeder, together with other heads of government, had openly committed himself last September to halving the number of poor people in the world by 2015”, Sayer recalled, “and today 1.2 billion people are struggling for survival on a dollar or less a day”; but “the government must be judged by what it does, and not what it says”, and the recent discussions on the national budget for 2002 clearly indicate that “ the struggle against poverty and cooperation in development are not goals shared by this government“. For while the national Budget for 2002 has risen by 1.6%, the budget for the Ministry for Development has actually been cut by 5.3% and this, according to Sayer, will have repercussions on Misereor’s work.
