To: NATIONAL EDITORS

Contact: Steven Kull of Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland, +1-202-232-7500

COLLEGE PARK, Md., Oct. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new WorldPublicOpinion.org poll finds that majorities in all eight developed countries polled are willing to contribute the funds necessary to cut hunger and severe poverty in half by the year 2015, one of the key Millennium Development Goals.

The poll also finds that majorities in 19 out of 20 nations polled agree that developed countries "have a moral responsibility to help reduce hunger and severe poverty in poor countries." On average, eight in 10 say developed countries have such a responsibility.

The poll, released on World Food Day, was conducted by WorldPublicOpinion.org, an international network of research centers managed by the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland. The poll includes 16,370 respondents surveyed July 15 through September 9, 2008. Margins of error range from +/-3 to 4 percent.

Interviews were conducted in 20 nations: Argentina, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Indonesia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, the Palestinian Territories, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United States.

The World Bank has estimated that states who are members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will have to increase their aid together $39 billion per year to fulfill the goal of cutting hunger and severe poverty in half by the year 2015.

In the poll, respondents in seven OECD member countries, plus Russia, were told how much it would cost each person in their country per year to meet this goal if the cost were shared among all of the OECD countries. They were then asked if they would be willing to pay that amount, assuming that people in the other countries were willing to also pay their share.

Majorities in every country polled say that they would be willing to pay the required amount, ranging from 54 percent in Russia to 86 percent in France. On average, 77 percent favor contributing to meet this goal, and only 17 percent are opposed.

Steven Kull, director of WorldPublicOpinion.org, comments: "This tells us that, when presented the actual, per-person cost of cutting hunger and severe poverty in half, the people of developed countries are willing to spend what is necessary."

For more information, visit: www.WorldPublicOpinion.org.

Contact: Steven Kull (202) 232-7500

SOURCE Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland

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