A chance to reset: How the UK could transform aid

Within the UK development sector there is a feeling of optimism; the new government's mood-music allows us to hope. The language of connectedness and collaboration, participation and rights, makes it seem that the years of slashed aid budgets – spending what’s left at home rather than abroad – and the othering of the most vulnerable could be consigned to the past. The UK can start to rebuild its reputation on the world stage.

Myself and my colleagues at Development Initiatives (DI) welcome the stated commitment of Anneliese Dodds, the UK’s new Minister of State leading on international development, to rebuild trust through an approach based on genuine respect and partnership with the Global South. In this, and in the broader mission to create a world free from poverty on a liveable planet, we wish her and her colleagues across the government every success.

It will not be easy. The world faces multiple challenges that continue to exacerbate global poverty and inequality. The climate crisis threatens ever greater impacts, with the most vulnerable countries the least able to invest in adaptation measures or to pay for loss and damage. The number of people in need of humanitarian assistance increased by more than 10% in 2023, and yet the global humanitarian funding gap was larger than ever. Only 16% of the 169 Sustainable Development Goal targets are on track to be met by 2030.

With a substantial parliamentary majority, the new government has a historic opportunity to show real leadership on these issues. These are some of the best ways that they can do so:

Prioritise the needs of developing countries on the global stage

To demonstrate support for partners in the Global South, a reconnected Britain should show leadership by championing their voices and agendas on the world stage. Whether at the G20 and G7, the Summit of the Future, COP29 or the Fourth International Financing for Development Conference, the UK should take their lead and support calls for more equitable global financing to support their development priorities and investments in climate action.

Take steps towards a return to spending 0.7% of gross national income (GNI) on aid and ensure it is spent where it is most needed

We welcome the commitment to return aid spending to 0.7% of GNI “ as soon as fiscal circumstances allow .” However, to ensure the necessary impetus to make this happen, the government should establish a clear direction of travel and outline the tangible steps that need to be taken to do so. They should also ensure that official development assistance (ODA) is targeted where it is needed most, reducing poverty in low-income countries and leaving no one behind.

We very much welcome the renewed focus on women and girls as recent aid cuts have disproportionately affected spending on gender equality and support for women's rights organisations with devastating impacts . The best way to respond to the attack on the rights of women and members of the LGBT+ community both at home and abroad is often to fund women’s movements. To fully understand the intersectional discrimination faced by women, girls and marginalised groups, the government must invest in better data disaggregated by gender and other dimensions to empower these communities.

We know that it is often local partners who are first to respond when crisis hits but they need adequate resources to do so. DI’s Global Humanitarian Assistance Report shows that in 2022, just 1.2% (US$485 million) of funding went directly to local and national organisations. The UK should take a ‘bottom-up’ approach to localisation by ensuring that more funding directly reaches these organisations. They should also improve the transparency of funding data by requiring international intermediaries such as UN agencies funded by the UK to be fully transparent about which organisations they fund and under what conditions.

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Provide support for refugees without compromising overseas aid

In 2023, the UK spent more than a quarter of its ODA on supporting refugees within the UK. Across all members of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) on average, almost as much aid was spent on in-donor refugee costs (US$31 billion) as on bilateral aid to sub-Saharan Africa (US$32 billion) or to the UN’s list of Least Developed Countries (US$33 billion). The new government's commitment to managing the UK's asylum backlog by processing applications is encouraging and should be matched by guarantees that supporting refugees at home does not come at the expense of global poverty reduction efforts. Both needs should be met and financed separately.

Deliver on commitments to unlock climate finance by strengthening transparency

One of the biggest barriers to understanding exactly how much climate finance is reaching climate-vulnerable countries is the lack of a common definition on what constitutes climate finance . This has led to confusion over how much is really being spent and accusations that reporting rules are adapted to meet targets on paper while leaving the needs of developing countries unmet. The UK government leads the way in climate finance transparency. It could be a true champion and use its position to encourage others to adopt a common definition and build the political will to develop a coherent, transparent and consistent approach to climate finance reporting. The UK should push for these issues to be addressed in negotiations to adopt a New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance at COP29, and not ironed out long after a big, headline-grabbing number has been agreed.

Invest in data for development

Data is the new currency: it informs decisions, helps institutions be more productive and efficient and shapes funding decisions. The UK has the opportunity to put data at the heart of its international development efforts in two ways. Firstly, the FCDO should build on the UK’s leadership in data transparency – as recognised in the newly released Aid Transparency Index – by supporting partners and suppliers to reach higher transparency standards by publishing open data using the IATI data standard. Secondly, a reconnected Britain should support partners in the Global South and invest in their foundational data systems. This would improve understanding of who is impacted by poverty, inequality and crises. It would also help track progress in delivering on commitments to partners and enable them to ethically harness emerging technologies such as AI for public good.

The global challenges are many and the time for action is running out. Now more than ever, the UK government must demonstrate that it can lead from the front. It must galvanise the goodwill of states and development actors alike and forge the partnerships needed to deliver change at scale, and build a prosperous, more equal and stable world.