The British government today announced it will focus overseas development aid on countries at war or in crisis and on programmes supporting women, reducing funding to countries such as Mozambique.
“To fund additional defence spending, we have had to make the extremely difficult decision to reduce our development budget in the coming years,” foreign secretary Yvette Cooper told parliament.
The government had already announced in February that it would reduce aid to 0.3% of gross national income by 2027, down from the current 0.7%, to offset the increase in the military budget in response to global geopolitical tensions.
Cooper told parliament today that 70% of overseas aid will go to supporting fragile countries and those affected by wars and conflicts resulting in humanitarian crises, such as Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan and — from this week — Lebanon. “This means that direct bilateral aid funding for other countries will be reduced,” she acknowledged.
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Countries including Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Mozambique “will continue to be priorities,” but direct grants will be reduced, with British aid channelled through multilateral programmes or investment partnerships.
Cooper guaranteed that at least 90% of bilateral development aid programmes will focus on women and girls, incorporating gender equality criteria. Bilateral funding to G20 countries will be phased out, with the exception of Turkey, where the UK will continue to fund refugee support.
“We will focus on areas that maximise impact, transform lives and promote stability, creating jobs and economic opportunities as a pathway out of poverty,” the minister stressed.
