enoughfoodif.

org
Rt. Hon David Cameron MP Prime Minister 10 Downing Street London SW1A 2AA Bond Regents Wharf 8 All Saints St, London N1 9RL

10 May 2013 Dear Prime Minister, On behalf of the IF campaign, a campaign of almost 200 members organisations, we want to thank you for your leadership on development. Expectations are high for the summer, as the UK hosts the G8 Presidency and the two pre-summit events. As we discussed when we met with you recently we welcome the governments response to our campaign to date. Putting the issue of tax dodging (a key drain on the resources of developing country governments), nutrition and land rights on the G8 agenda and honouring the 0.7% aid promise are critical steps forward. We do believe that more progress is needed in three key areas, and that the time has come to translate words into bold action. Firstly, the level of ambition for your Nutrition for Growth event on the 8th of June. This event could be a turning point. At least one third of all child deaths are attributable to malnutrition, but despite this only 0.37% of aid globally is spent directly tackling the problem. We welcome the target of reducing the number of stunted children by twenty million by 2020 as an important step towards elimination of this condition that is causing irreversible damage, both to childrens lives and to countries development. But we are worried that without the necessary financing this commitment will ring hollow. As far as we are aware there has not been anything like enough outreach to other donors and developing countries to make this target achievable. We still have over a month left to fix that, but would encourage you personally to make the necessary calls to get us back on track. We mustnt squander this opportunity. Secondly, wed urge you to ensure that the G8 publishes a clear, timed plan of how poor developing countries will benefit from any G8 tax agreement. Getting the UKs own house in order ahead of the G8 Leaders Summit is an essential step towards this. This would require that the UKs Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories sign the existing Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters immediately and in advance of the G8. At the G8 they should implement a new gold standard on beneficial ownership and agree to share information in a multilateral and automatic basis. This will ensure that they can no longer harbour tax evaders and money launderers that deprive poor countries of valuable resources that could be invested in tackling hunger, and truly would pave the way for a historic G8 tax agreement. Thirdly, we ask you to be ambitious on the G8 agenda of land rights and land transparency, to tackle a growing problem of land grabbing in developing countries which is undermining food security. Please ensure the launch at this G8 of a Land Transparency Initiative, to support the full implementation of the UN Voluntary Guidelines on Land Tenure, and to bring together developing countries, investors, companies and civil society to commit to full disclosure and community consent in land deals. We remain confident that this G8 can secure a real breakthrough in the fight against hunger and tax transparency but your personal leadership and international diplomacy over the next few weeks will be critical to reaching this ambition. The campaigns supporters up and down the country will be watching closely and pressing you to deliver the most ambitious outcome possible over the coming weeks.

Yours sincerely,

Ben Jackson, Chief Executive, Bond and Chair, IF Campaign Board IF Campaign Board members

Richard Miller, Director, Action Aid

Ben Phillips, Director of Campaigns, Oxfam GB

Chris Bain, Director, CAFOD

Mark Lister, Chief Executive, Progressio

Loretta Minghella, Director, Christian Aid Nik Hartley, Chief Executive, Restless Development

Kevin Cahill, Chief Executive, Comic Relief Justin Forsyth, Chief Executive, Save the Children Rose Caldwell Executive Director, Concern Worldwide UK Matthew Frost, Chief Executive, Tearfund Elisha London, UK Country Director, Global Poverty Project

David Bull, Executive Director, UNICEF UK Saif Ahmed, Saif Ahmed, Director, MADE In Europe

Cc: Justine Greening, Secretary of State for International Development

The list of IF member organisations is growing all the time. See them here on the IF campaign website: http://www.enoughfoodif.org/who-we-are