Africa

Africa is a vast and ethnically diverse continent, rich in culture and natural resources, yet it still has the highest proportion of people living in extreme poverty in the world. Progress towards every Millennium Development Goal (MDG) has been insufficient in sub-Saharan Africa. However, there are grounds for optimism that we will see improved progress between now and 2015. Many countries in Africa show signs of increased political stability and economic growth. Better economic management by African governments has contributed to above average growth rates in sub-Saharan Africa in recent years. Fourteen Africa countries had growth rates of over 5% in 2005.

The UK's bilateral country and regional programmes in Africa exceeded £1 billion in 2006/07, with £1.25 billion planned for 2007/08. We will provide £150 million for education in Mozambique up to 2015, which should lead to one million more children completing primary education by 2009 and train up to 10,000 new teachers per year. Ghana will receive £105 million over 10 years to help enable all girls and boys to complete a full course of primary education.

The UK is strongly committed to strengthening Africa's business environment by supporting the Investment Climate Facility and the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa. In 2006, the UK was the leading donor for new UN Common Humanitarian Funds in Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo, through which donors' funds are pooled to strengthen the UN and international response to humanitarian crises.

Asia

Asia is the most diverse developing region in the world. Recent years have witnessed rapid - but uneven - economic growth and Asia now makes up one-third of the world's economy. But, typically, growth has gone hand in hand with rising inequality, uneven development and increasing numbers of urban poor and migrants as well as continued isolation for rural communities. Despite regional economic progress, two-thirds of the world's poor live in Asia. Sustainable and significant improvements in the lives of the poor in Asia are therefore key to achieving the MDGs globally.

The UK announced at the Asia 2015 Conference that it expects that UK bilateral aid to Asia will grow by 25% between 2005 and 2008. The UK has signed ten-year Development Partnership Arrangements (DPAs) with Afghanistan, Pakistan and Vietnam. We have committed £252 million to India's programme to reduce maternal and infant mortality. Over one million lives will be saved each year by the programme, and it is the largest ever contribution by the UK to the health sector.

Europe, Middle East, North Africa and the Americas

These regions have made good progress in reducing poverty over the last 20 years, but more than 300 million people still live on less than $2 per day. Most of the countries are likely to miss one or more of the MDGs. Considerable challenges face these regions in reducing poverty. Economic growth is fundamental, but many countries still have ineffective public financial management, a high burden of regulation and poor infrastructure that discourages private sector investment. Many countries are small and vulnerable to economic and natural shocks.

Progress towards the MDG target of reducing poverty by half has been slow across these regions, although Guyana and Jamaica are among the few developing countries to have already achieved the target. The UK will scale up its programme in the poorest states of Yemen, the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan. We have been flexible and innovative in delivering aid in difficult environments like Iraq and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Water supply has doubled to 100,000 poor homes in Basra through UK support.