The previous government asked us, in 1980, to attach greater weight to political and commercial criteria for aid. There is less ambiguity about our mandate now. With the creation of my Department as a separate Department of State, Britain's ability to make a difference in the developing world is probably greater than it has been at any time since the international development effort started. It is a unique opportunity to turn the targets into practical policies. Practical Policies 10.
Targets have to be chosen with care.
As a formula for social sector spending, it is arbitrary, and input driven. It may encourage some desirable increase in attention to social sector programmes. But it could divert resources to add up to the right numbers, with no guarantee that those numbers achieve what we want in terms of outputs or policies. Immunisation has since proceeded apace. Millions of children have benefited from this goal-oriented approach.