Due to cuts to the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget, the UK’s support to global efforts to reduce poverty has dramatically reduced in recent years. Now, with economic turmoil and a cost of living crisis, the Government’s commitment to reinstate the UK’s spending on ODA to 0.7% of our Gross National Income by 2024/25 looks further off than ever.
For example, at the present time, the UK Government has not renewed its long-standing support for the Global Fund to Fight HIV, TB and Malaria, or committed resources to the eradication of polio.
A return to this level of investment would make a big difference to people living in poverty around the world, but would have practically no impact on our ability to tackle the cost of living crisis in the UK. The Government faces a challenge to reduce public spending, and we have to be realistic about the financing available for international development. But cutting ODA and delaying a return to spending to 0.7% of GNI are clear political choices rather than an economic necessity.
Right now, even more cuts are being discussed, which would be a further failure of the UK’s international and legal obligations to support global poverty reduction. It is a critical time to demonstrate loud public support for the reduction of global poverty.
This month, please use your local media or social media networks to highlight the impact of the ODA cuts and help us show that there is strong public support for the UK’s development spending to tackle poverty around the world.
Check out our new Social Media Guide and our Blogs Guide! And our Action Sheet gives some ideas for arguments you can use in your writing.
If you missed our November Conference Call, you can catch up here.
Image: Yulia Malyk provides community-based health outreach services to prevent, diagnose and treat people with tuberculosis (TB) through the non-profit organisation ‘100% Life’, one of the Global Fund’s partners in Ukraine. Image Credits: Ashley Gilbertson / © 2022 The Global Fund