Advocacy is the work of influencing the decisions, policies and practices of decision-makers, to address underlying causes of poverty, bring justice, and support good development. In many development situations there are underlying justice issues that contribute to people’s poverty. Until these issues are addressed other development help is going to make very little progress.

Why do Christians feel a need to be involved in development activities? What are the distinctives of Christian development? Paper presented by BANZAid Manager Paul Thompson to the Asia Pacific Baptist Federation Development Consultation held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, September 2012

This document studies the debt crisis of the poorest countries, and the achievement over ten years of the Jubilee Debt Campaign, which sought major debt relief for these countries. “Frankly, it is a scandal that we are forced to choose between basic health and education for our people and repaying historical debt. Shall we let our children die of curable and preventable illnesses, prevent them from going to school, let people drink polluted water, just to pay off this debt?” PRESIDENT MKAPA OF TANZANIA, FEBRUARY 2005

The links between tax evasion and corruption: how the G20 should tackle illicit financial flows. A briefing paper by Global Witness, Tax Justice Network, Christian Aid, and Global Financial Integrity

This report from ActionAid looks at unpaid corporate taxes as the missing link in development finance. "Christian Aid estimates, on the basis of figures quoted by the World Bank, that corporate evasion through abuses of trade pricing costs developing countries around $160bn each year - which if spent according to current patterns would, among other things, avert the deaths of around 1,000 children under-five every day." Alex Cobham of Christian Aid and Anna Thomas of ActionAid continue: "Our analysis also shows that the same lack of transparency and use of tax havens that make these abuses possible are also responsible for the financial crisis which is now hitting the poorest hardest."