Dealing with all the world's woes should be simple. We should win the war against hunger, end conflicts, stop communicable diseases, provide clean drinking water, step up education and halt climate change. But we don't. Over 30 years ago, the UN called on the developed nations to double the percentage of money they were spending on overseas development aid, but the sad fact is that the developed world now spends a smaller percentage of its wealth on overseas aid than it did in 1970. Some seem to believe that this merely shows that we should redouble our efforts to get the international community to increase its funding. I applaud this effort, and think it is necessary to keep up the political pressure. But I also think we need to be realistic and admit that we will not be getting close to doing all the right things anytime soon.
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