a catastrophic decision in the fight against global poverty

The UK’s support to global efforts that reduce poverty and inequality are hugely important, saving lives and helping people gain access to their rights to services such as health and education. Yet this support is now vanishing. Despite the Government’s stated intention to restore the UK’s tarnished reputation on the world stage since the serious cuts to ‘foreign aid’ (the Official Development Assistance or ‘ODA’ budget) in 2021, it has never said when it would do so. On 25 February, it did precisely the opposite, citing national security as a reason to cut the ODA budget further, to just 0.3% of the UK’s Gross National Income (GNI) rather than the legally mandated 0.7%. This decision is wrong and will cost thousands of lives.

what

the Government has cut the UK’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget, despite their manifesto committing to increasing it

who

the Government must immediately reverse its decision and instead provide a timetable for how to increase its support for poverty reduction

how

write to the Foreign Secretary explaining why the decision is wrong, and ask for a plan to return the ODA budget to 0.7% of GNI

the need for development assistance

The UK’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget saves lives and combats poverty around the world, helping create ‘a world free from poverty on a livable planet’. But despite great progress in international development over several decades, that progress is now reversing.

Historically, the UK has been a leading international donor, for example, as the biggest contributor to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, supporting global vaccination programmes that to date have saved 19 million lives. But cuts to the ODA budget since 2021 have tarnished the UK’s global reputation. And with no plan how to meet the Government’s stated objective to return ODA to 0.7% of the UK’s Gross National Income “as fiscal circumstances allow”, the recent decision to further cut the ODA budget is a complete reversal of that policy.

the UK’s role in supporting global poverty reduction

There has been an international target for wealthy nations’ Official Development Assistance to reach 0.7% of their Gross National Income since 1970. The UK reached this target in 2013, one of a very few major industrialised nations to do so. Since 2015, UK law has also required that this target be met. However, in 2021, significant cuts were made, effectively reducing the UK’s ODA back to around 0.5% of GNI. In 2023 it was 0.58%.

Despite agreeing in principle that the UK’s ODA budget should return to 0.7% of GNI as fiscal circumstances allow, the Government has set out no criteria by which this would be judged, nor a plan for getting there. In the absence of such a roadmap, and following the announcement of a further ODA cut on 25 February, their supposed commitment to increasing international development spending cannot now be taken seriously.

At a time of increased geopolitical instability, it is understandable that countries such as the UK wish to increase their defence budgets. But it is insupportable to do so at the cost of essential services relied upon by people and communities around the world, which in any case only account for a tiny proportion of overall Government spending. Other ways should be found to pay for this policy priority.

In the light of recent cuts to USAID, which have already thrown essential development and humanitarian programmes into turmoil, donors such as the UK need to help stabilise the situation and not make it even worse. For a country seeking to rebuild its reputation as a development champion, this is a hugely retrograde step which will leave its credibility in shreds.

In addition, the UK has been paying for the costs of supporting refugees and asylum seekers from the ODA budget. While this is allowed under international rules, these costs should be paid from our domestic budget, not reducing our effective ‘aid’ budget still further. Supporting vulnerable people seeking refuge and helping marginalised communities around the world aren’t alternatives, they are both a must!

how you can help

While we do not think the Government is going to change its mind in the short term, it is vital that they are aware of strong support among the UK public for a return to providing adequate funding for well-targeted, effective ODA programmes. Please write to the Foreign Secretary, Rt. Hon. David Lammy MP, to express your concerns about this latest reduction on UK ODA to 0.3% of GNI asking him to set out a clear plan for how the cuts will be reversed.
Address for correspondence: Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, King Charles Street, London SW1A 2AH. Email: [email protected]
Please copy your letter to your MP, so that they also know how you feel. If you are able to do more, please ask your MP to ask a formal Question in Parliament to raise your concern. You can find your MP’s contact details here. See also our advice on drafting Parliamentary Questions which will help you guide your MP to hold the Government effectively to account!

how Results campaigners have supported the UK’s international development spending

For many years, the Results grassroots network has played a strong part in advocating for an effective use of ODA spending to support poverty reduction around the world. This has included pledges to multilateral bodies such as the Global Fund to Fight HIV, TB and Malaria, and the Global Partnership for Education, as well as bilateral (country to country) support such as nutrition programmes.

For example, in 2021, Results campaigners urged MPs to vote against the proposals to cut the ODA budget, and while the vote went through, many MPs rebelled in support of ODA programmes.
On 11 February this year, Results advocates joined over 100 campaigners at an event in the House of Lords, urging their MPs to continue to push for a return to ODA spending of 0.7% of GNI.

take action!

write to the Foreign Secretary about the need to reverse the latest cut to the UK’s ODA budget

ask your MP to raise a Parliamentary Question about the cut

I took action!

we’re here to support you!

If you have any questions or need support or advice in writing your letter, please contact Naveed Chaudhri, Head of Campaigns, at [email protected].

UK support for immunisation in Afghanistan

This is the fifth year that Sakina, 24, has been working as a volunteer vaccinator in Bamyan province, Afghanistan. “My family is very proud of me for being a part of the campaign. I am proud too. I am always motivated when the campaign starts. Even when we have to travel to faraway places or have to deal with other hardships, it is all worth it when you know you are making a positive difference in the lives of children and families.”

“I love that not only can I help communities but I also have their good wishes and prayers on my side. I like that I can explain to mothers why they need to vaccinate their children. I am happy to be able to share what I know with families so they can protect their children from being victims of this terrible virus,” Sakina says.

Sakina, 24, marks the finger of a child with indelible ink as a sign that he has been vaccinated during a national immunisation campaign supported by UK aid

Credit: WHO Afghanistan/R.Akbar