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March 24, 2024 | UK, Education, Agriculture, Gender Equality, Agricultural R&D, Nutritious Food Systems, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health, Family Planning, WASH & Sanitation, Climate, Global Health, Security policy | Share this update
On March 24, 2024, BOND published a new manifesto setting out the steps the next UK government should take to help deliver on the SDGs and work in solidarity with its partners.
The manifesto is based around seven key asks:
January 27, 2024 | UK, US, Nutrition, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health, Family Planning, WASH & Sanitation, Education | Share this update
On January 27, 2024, it was announced that the UK has joined the US and other nations in freezing its funding for the UNRWA for Palestinians in the Near East in light of allegations that 12 UNRWA staff took part in the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel.
The UK government noted that while it remains committed to getting vital humanitarian aid to people in Gaza, it was temporarily pausing future funding while the allegations are reviewed. The UK was the third-largest donor to UNRWA in 2020, but its funding fell sharply in 2021 and 2022. No recorded funding was delivered in 2023.
Assistance workers and Palestinian advocates have stated that freezing funding could have dire impact on humanitarian relief to Gaza.
November 20, 2023 | UK, Education, Gender Equality, Agricultural R&D, Nutritious Food Systems, WASH & Sanitation, Climate | Share this update
On November 20, 2023, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak launched a new White Paper on International Development, the first since 2009, which set out a progressive, whole-of-government approach to accelerate the delivery of the SDGs over the next seven years.
The White Paper provided a return to focusing UK development on the goal of eradicating poverty, which experts noted was largely neglected by previous strategies. It presented two further key goals: tackling climate change and biodiversity loss. The paper called for a new approach to partnerships based on country ownership, accountability, and transparency.
Though experts noted that the paper seemed to signal that the UK has recommitted to international development, it did not make new major financial commitments. The focus of the paper was on mobilizing resources beyond ODA for development, including the City of London’s private finance and expertise, stretching multilateral finance, and tackling trade, tax and illicit flows, as well as outlining policy priorities.
A return to delivering 0.7% ODA/GNI when fiscally feasible was mentioned briefly in the paper. Neither the Foreign Secretary nor the Minister for Development mentioned 0.7% ODA/GNI as a goal in their respective prefaces.
Six key themes from the paper included:
One of the most significant commitments was the aim to spend 50% of UK bilateral ODA in LDCs, prioritizing ODA resources to LICs. In 2021, the UK only provided 19.1% of resources to LDCs and has never exceeded 33% since 2013. A commitment to 50% is seen by experts as a monumental change in bilateral allocations. The White Paper also committed the BII to invest half of its resources in so-called poor and fragile states by 2030.
The 2024 UK election sets a narrow timeframe for the current Conservative government to implement the goals laid out by the paper. The progressive and broad framing, however, indicated to experts that the paper may not necessarily be jettisoned by a potential Labor government.
Development NGOs in the UK have been broadly welcoming of the document, but have criticized the government for ODA cuts and called for a return to 0.7% ODA/GNI.
November 2, 2023 | UK, Canada, Education, Climate, Global Health | Share this update
On November 2, 2023, Canada’s International Development Research Centre announced at the UK AI Safety Summit in London that it is partnering with the UK FCDO to launch a new phase of the AI for Development program, with an initial focus on Africa.
The new CAD70 million (US$51 million) partnership is intended to leverage the capacity of AI to reduce inequalities, strengthen health, education, and food systems, as well as adapt to climate change.
November 1, 2023 | UK, Education, Agriculture, Gender Equality, Nutritious Food Systems, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health, Family Planning, Agricultural R&D, WASH & Sanitation, Climate, Global health R&D, Global Health | Share this update
On November 1, 2023, the UK government announced that it will provide GBP38 million (US$46 million) to a new GBP80 million (US$96 million) global initiative to speed up the use of AI to support international development.
The announcement was made at the inaugural AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park, UK. The initiative, which is also being supported by Canada, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the US, and partners in Africa, aims to utilize AI to combat inequality and boost prosperity, primarily in Africa. It will focus on building the capacity of and supporting African AI expertise to address long-standing development challenges.
The UK’s funding will come from a new phase of the UK AI for Development Programme. The following goals were listed as priorities until 2028:
October 4, 2023 | UK, Global Health, Gender Equality, Education, Climate | Share this update
Between October 1-4, 2023, the UK Conservative Party held a party conference which failed to feature international development on the main agenda.
UK Foreign Minister James Cleverly made no mention of development, which falls under his portfolio after the merge of DFID into the FCO in 2020. Cleverly focused entirely on foreign affairs in his lengthy speech. There was also no mention of a return to 0.7% ODA/GNI when fiscally appropriate, despite it being part of Conservative party policy.
UK Minister for Development and Africa Andrew Mitchell spoke at a conference on development and hinted at the new White Paper on International Development. Mitchell stated that the paper would include a focus on cracking down on illicit funds stolen from Africa. He noted that GBP88 billion (US$105 billion) disappeared last year, dwarfing ODA flows to the continent, with 40% of these funds funneled through the City of London and the UK’s overseas territories. Mitchell also noted that the paper would explore how to tap into US$60 trillion of pension funds to address sustainable development.
A number of international development NGOs held events at the fringes of the conference, including CAFOD and Global Prosperity. One event focused on the impact of climate change on humanitarian emergencies. Global Prosperity held an event with the Global Partnership for Education on the importance of girls' education in UK foreign policy. Malaria No More held an event exploring how British-backed science is leading the campaign to end malaria.
September 21, 2023 | UK, Global health R&D, Global Health, Education, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health | Share this update
From September 20 to 22, 2023, the UK announced up to GBP498.5 million (US$596 million) for global health initiatives at the High-Level meetings on health at the 78th UN General Assembly.
The package included:
The UK also welcomed the TB declaration agreed at the High-Level meetings and called for a renewed push to deliver UHC with a focus on delivering primary healthcare, combating financial hardship hindering healthcare access, and strengthening the global health workforce.
September 19, 2023 | UK, Education, Climate, Gender Equality | Share this update
On September 19, 2023, UK Foreign Minister James Cleverly called for a more inclusive international financial system and announced a series of new UK financial guarantees to unlock further funding from MDBs at the 78th UN General Assembly.
The guarantees included:
The UK also announced GBP17 million (US$20 million) to improve tax systems in developing countries to help ensure countries have more sustainable public finances and to close tax loopholes. The UK estimated that this could raise an additional US$260 billion in financing.
Finally, the UK also announced that it will join and provide additional disaster risk financing support for the Caribbean, a region particularly vulnerable to natural disasters. The Foreign Secretary is slated to announce that the UK will join CCRIF SPC to establish an affordable insurance scheme to increase the resilience of vital WASH services and provide additional support for the Caribbean.
September 14, 2023 | UK, Nutrition, Education, Agriculture, Gender Equality, Climate, Global health R&D, Global Health | Share this update
On September 14, 2023, the UK government released its final statistics on UK ODA spending for 2022.
The figures showed that the UK spent GBP13 billion (US$15 billion), or 0.51% of its GNI, on ODA. In 2022, the data showed an increase in current prices of GBP1 billion (US$2 billion) from 2021 levels.
The UK spent GBP4 million (US$4 million), or 28.8%, on in-donor refugee costs. BOND criticized the UK for spending such a large share of its ODA budget in-donor refugee costs and noted that this increase came at the expense of funding for vulnerable partner countries.
Other key statistics included:
The report noted that these figures have not been subject to international verification by the OECD.
September 7, 2023 | UK, Nutrition, Education, Agriculture, Gender Equality, Climate, Global health R&D, Global Health | Share this update
On September 7, 2023, the CDG published a report examining the UK’s non- ODA development finance, which found that the UK is on track to meet its pledge to mobilize GBP8 million (US$9.6 billion) in private finance three years ahead of its 2025 target.
The study reviewed seven main finance tools, including the UK’s use of export finance and capital increases to the BII. It found that the UK has increased the amount of mobilized private finance from approximately GBP3 billion (US$4.3 billion) in 2018 to GBP5 billion (US$6 billion) in 2021. Private financing is projected to reach GBP10 billion (US$12 billion) in 2022, exceeding the target set by former Foreign Minister Liz Truss of mobilizing GBP8 billion (US$9.6 billion) by 2025.
The report highlighted the UK’s use of guarantees to increase lending by MDBs, noting it as an innovative approach that mobilized GBP5 billion (US$6 billion) for climate objectives, support to Ukraine, and other initiatives. This approach utilizes MDBs' preferred creditor status and ability to raise money from private investors at a rate much more favorable than other UK instruments.
The report noted the need for transparency around the UK’s use of guarantees, and urged the UK to follow Sweden’s model of delivering an annual guarantee report.
US$ amounts are cited directly from sources; in the absence of an official conversion, they are calculated using the previous week's average of the US Federal Reserve's daily exchange rates.
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