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More than a billion people, one in five of the world's population, live in extreme poverty. This means they live on less than $1 a day. Ten million children die before their fifth birthday, most of them from preventable diseases. More than 113 million children do not go to school.

In a world of growing wealth, such levels of human suffering and wasted potential are not only morally wrong, they are also against our own interests. We are becoming much closer to people in faraway countries. We trade more and more with people around the world.

Many of the problems which affect us, such as war and conflict, international crime, refugees, the trade in illegal drugs and the spread of diseases like HIV and AIDS, are caused or made worse by poverty in developing countries. The UK is invested in international development as it sees getting rid of poverty will make for a better world for everybody.

Britain is the world's second largest donor of humanitarian and development aid. The United Kingdom's aid budget increase from $8.2 billion a year in 2005/06 to $10.6 billion in  2008. Unlike other donors, the UK provides funds to the recipient governments, rather than funding individual projects.

The UK's Department for International Development (DFID) is the government department that manages the UK's aid to poor countries and works to get rid of extreme poverty.

To help tackle world povery, the government launched a five-year plan in 2006, which set out what the government would do to reduce world poverty.

The White Paper set out the government's priorities and explains how it will work with partner governments, international organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academics and the private sector to fulfill the promises made in 2005 to significantly reduce world poverty.

The main messages are:

• The UK will deliver the promises made in 2005 by: increasing our development budget to 0.7% of gross national income by 2013; concentrating our resources on the poorest countries – particularly sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia – and working more in fragile states; making sure that wider UK policies support development; and doubling funding for science and technology.
• The UK will put governance at the center of our work – focusing on building states that are capable, responsive and accountable to their citizens. We will use a new framework for assessing the quality of governance to do this and use the assessment to tailor our support appropriately to country circumstances. We will also step up our efforts dramatically to tackle corruption internationally, for example through a new anti-corruption unit and follow up to Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
• The UK will increase our effort to help people have security, incomes through growth and public services. We will commit 50% of all future bilateral aid to public services for poor people - social protection will be a major new area of work.
• The UK will work internationally to tackle climate change, by helping developing countries to participate in international negotiations on climate change and to integrate adaptation to climate change impacts into their development programs.
• The UK will help create an international system fit for the 21st century, focusing on UN reform, a more effective and responsive World Bank, IMF and regional banks, and closer working relationships with EU member states and the EC to ensure that EU aid is effective and that non-aid policies support development.