Aid Campaign Stepped Up

Students and staff will be asked to give 1% of their personal income for overseas development aid in late July.

The request will come from "1% A.I.D." (Action for International Development), an organization set up at the weekend by a meeting of about 30 students from the four main universities.

They hope that such an action will persuade the government to increase its aid for overseas development to 1% of the Gross National Income by 1973.

"We want to show the government that there are many people who are willing to give this percentage of their income and who feel the government can and should do more," one delegate said.

"It amounts to a rather sophisticated protest.

"We have set up committees in the four main universities ('C.I.A.' was a forerunner to this at Victoria) and we hope to gain the support of all the student's associations as well as N.Z.U.S.A. so that we can have a broad organizational base to work from.

"We are encouraging as many people as possible to help in organization so that we have a large pool of ideas to draw on.

"We are beginning in the universities because we want to see how much response we can muster, and if the scheme proves successful, since it is election year, we would like to take to the public as soon as possible.

"Already we have drawn up a petition in conjunction with the National Council of Youth and have established liaison with most bodies concerned with overseas aid."

It is thought that the money collected from the university will most probably go towards providing scholarships for Samoans who wish to attend the University of South Pacific, although a number of other schemes are still being considered.