Department For International Development

The Department for International Development (DFID)  is responsible for leading the UK Government contribution to promoting development and the eradication of poverty. The overall objective of DFID is the elimination of world poverty. This objective was set out in 1997 White Paper on International Development. The 1997 White Paper committed the Government to contributing to a set of poverty reduction targets, called the International Development Targets, by 2015. ‘Eliminating World Poverty: Making Globalisation Work for the Poor’ The 2000 White Paper reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to achieving the 2015 targets and set out proposals for managing the process of globalisation in a way that increases opportunities for the world’s poor.

The task of DFID is to ensure that the International community works together to achieve The Millennium Development Goals, which were endorsed at the United Nations Millennium Summit in September 2000. These Goals closely correlate with the International Development Targets and include halving the proportion of people living in subject poverty by 2015 and getting the children into primary schools by the same date.