Madam, - The coming weeks and months will be a telling time for the international community as its integrity is put to the test in the midst of global recession.
During the boom years, the governments of the developed world showed unprecedented generosity towards the poor. Hundreds of millions were channelled to the third world, much of it routed through NGOs such as Goal, which implement humanitarian projects on behalf of these governments.
However, Goal has long harboured the belief that honouring its moral obligation to the poor is not a top priority for the international community. The victims of Cyclone Nargis in Burma and the hundreds of thousands who have died in Darfur testify to this belief.
Now, in the face of the economic crisis gripping the world,governments all over the world have to cut their spending; but how the belt is tightened is literally a matter of life and death. Funding cuts for organisations which work amongst the poorest of the poor are not counted in euro, but in lives.
On Tuesday the Minister of Finance spoke about the determination to protect the most vulnerable in society. Today, on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, we wonder how far this protection will extend. - Yours, etc,
JOHN O'SHEA, Goal, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.