International Development Secretary Justine Greening has praised the contribution of Scots to the UK aid programme in the decade in the decade since the Gleneagles G8 commitment to double the amount of money spent in Africa.
Ten years ago today saw the historic signing of an agreement by world leaders at the Perthshire hotel, days after 225,000 people took to the streets of Edinburgh for the Make Poverty History march.
Rock stars Bono and Bob Geldof also G8 members in Perthshire, helping to convince them to spend 0.7 percent of their income on international development.
Ms Greening last week made her first visit to the East Kilbride headquarters of the Department for International Development since the General Election.
She said: "At DFID's joint headquarters in East Kilbride, teams are leading the department's activities across the world.
"This would not have happened without the voice of Scottish people ringing in those leaders' ears. And Scotland has played a uniquely important role in helping the UK stick to, and fulfil, this historic promise to the world's poorest.
"A decade later, we face a pivotal year for international development as we reach the deadline for the Millennium Development Goals, and push for an even more ambitious set of targets to finish the job they started.
She added that the "unprecedented promises" made to the developing world a decade ago "have contributed to the largest reduction in poverty in history." She added: "The number of people dying in childbirth and from malaria and HIV and has plummeted, while millions more children are now in school, but our work must continue."
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