A new government white paper on UK aid has been condemned as a “double blow to the world’s poor”.
The first foreign, community and development (FCDO) strategy paper on foreign aid since the creation of the joint unit and the large-scale reductions made in 2020 is dominated by almost half of UK aid to multilateral bodies, including the UN, worldwide bank and a renewed focus on aid in addition to trade.
Foreign Minister Liz Truss said that reliable private sector investment would challenge “malicious actors” and push countries into the orbit of free market economies, a clear reference to the challenge posed by China’s major aid program.
“In an increasingly geopolitical world, we must use development as a key part of our foreign policy. Malicious actors treat the economy and development as a means of control, using patronage, investment and debt as a form of economic coercion and political power. “We will not reflect on their vicious tactics, but we will compare them in our determination to provide an alternative,” Trus said.
The 20-page Development Document, which is devoid of very specific budget allocations, sets a high-level goal of reducing the share of UK aid, going to multilateral authorities from 40% of the budget to 25% by 2025. The aid budget of the United Kingdom has been reduced by £ 4 billion by 2020.
Critics will argue that the move reduces the UK’s influence in these bodies at a critical time and that Britain can never hope to equalize China’s bilateral aid. More than 100 countries have joined China’s Belt and Road infrastructure programs. At the G7 in Cornwall last year, the United Kingdom promised to work with the US administration on a Western alternative to Chinese aid, but the plan is little mentioned in the document.
Sarah Champion, chair of the Commons International Development Committee, said: “The foreign minister’s strategy has two main directions. He advocates Aid for Trade, linking aid to access to goods and services from the United Kingdom. And it says more of our money should go to direct spending between governments, not to spending through international bodies like the United Nations.
“I fear this will lead to a double whammy against the world’s poor.”
She added: “The support of the world’s poorest should not depend on a trade agreement or agreement on investment partnerships. The United Kingdom is right to criticize China for such an approach, so I cannot understand why we are following this path. “It is depressing and disappointing that the United Kingdom will develop a strategy like this,” she said.
The document places new emphasis on women and girls, but says the budget for education, empowerment, sexual and reproductive health and rights and the cessation of violence will be restored to levels reached by the end of 2021. Relief groups hoped for funding to be restored to 2020 levels before government aid cuts start to bite.
The United Kingdom has already cut £ 1.5 billion from a World Bank program to help poor countries recover from Covid. It remains the bank’s largest European donor, but now lags behind the United States and Japan.
Other priorities set out in the White Paper are climate finance and humanitarian aid, which is set at £ 3 billion over the next three years. The document says Africa remains a priority for the United Kingdom, as “geostrategic competition in Africa will intensify over the next decade, and the impact of Covid-19, climate change and biodiversity loss increases the vulnerability of many countries and their citizens.” .
Similar importance is attached to the Indo-Pacific region, but the document does not provide separate funds for individual countries.
The document does not specify a date when the UK will return its total aid budget to 0.7% of GNI. Chancellor Rishi Sunak said he expects this not to be before 2024-2025.
But the document notes: “A return of 0.7% will allow us to expand the critical elements of our new strategy, including on climate and nature, as well as our ability to invest in countries.
In one of the few specific promises in the White Paper, the FCDO promised to reduce the time it takes for the department to approve a business case for programs worth less than £ 40 million to less than six weeks – which could now take months.
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