Aims and interests:

After 18 years as an MP focussing mainly on international development, Tony Worthington left parliament to become an International Development Consultant. “I want to work full time on what I am thinking about full time – the fulfilment of the Millennium Development Goals and the ending of world poverty.”

My Credo

I focus mainly, but not exclusively, on Africa.

My particular interests are in 3 areas that have been neglected.

1. The role of parliamentarians in development.

– without good governance there cannot be just development – you cannot have good governance without effective, democratically elected parliaments. Why have parliamentarians been so ignored in development?

I want to help to build up the capacity of parliaments – both North and South – to promote development.

2. Good reproductive health services

-given the chance, women overwhelmingly choose to have smaller families. There is fundamental right to universal reproductive health services. When population growth is faster than economic growth, there is only one result – increased poverty.

Invest in good reproductive health services and you empower women; dramatically improve maternal and infant health; cause economic growth; attack HIV/Aids; make sustainable environments attainable; make education targets attainable especially for women.

3. Better agriculture in Africa is a key to growth

Why have farmers been so ignored by the donors? With the right support, African farmers could provide the food that cuts poverty. But international donors have put less emphasis on agriculture in recent years. But the tide is turning. The Commission for Africa moves agricultural development to centre stage.

Hoorah for Jeffrey Sachs “The End of Poverty” – Penguin 2005.

“The poverty trap is mainly a rural phenomenon of peasant farmers caught in a spiral of rising population or falling food production per person.”

Can I help you?

last updated 11th July 2006