When Hugh Evans took to the stage at the World Bank spring meetings on Thursday in front of top development personalities like the bank’s president Jim Yong Kim and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, it seemed like a golden opportunity for the Australian founder and CEO of The Global Poverty Project, a New York-based anti-poverty advocacy group.
Not only did Evans blast Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s decision to break its promise by slashing the foreign aid budget and calling it “indecent,” he also got the international development community to pay close attention to Australia’s official development assistance policy.
“As an Australian, I’m proud of the reputation Australia has built for itself on the world stage in recent years through a generous and effective aid program,” Evans said during the panel. “We don’t want this single act of political indecency to undo the great work Australia has done to help end extreme poverty.”
About the author
Lean Alfred Santos@DevexLeanAS
Lean Alfred Santos is a former Devex development reporter focusing on the development community in Asia-Pacific, including major players such as the Asian Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. He previously covered Philippine and international business and economic news, sports and politics.
