Category Archives: Aid

DfID merger: experts warn of brain drain and damage to UK’s global standing

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Research into similar exercises in other countries has shown they lead to an exodus of talent and a loss of influence with key partners

Aid experts have warned of a brain drain of senior staff from the Department for International Development when it merges with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which could damage the UK’s international standing.

Downing Street is facing growing anger from DfID staff over the timing of the merger announcement last week, and the manner in which it was done. The merger had been long trailed, but was announced without union consultation and with many staff finding out from the media.

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‘White faux feminism’: Women Deliver investigate internal racism allegations

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Move follows previous and current staff complaining of toxic working environment at global advocacy group

The global advocacy group for gender equality Women Deliver has launched an investigation into allegations of racism and discrimination within the organisation.

Its CEO, Katja Iversen, a G7 advisor on gender equality, has issued an apology and taken a leave of absence until the conclusion of the investigation.

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DfID is a world leader in tackling poverty. Our international standing is weakened without it

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We risk development priorities becoming secondary to other foreign policy interests, at a time when they’re needed most

The merger of the Department for International Development (DfID) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) runs the very real risk of putting an abrupt end to the UK’s “superpower” status in international development.

Gone will be DfID’s clear articulation of purpose — the reduction and eventual elimination of global poverty — which has been a powerful motivating, unifying, and guiding force.

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‘Political vandalism’: DfID and Foreign Office merger met with anger by UK charities

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Unicef, Save the Children and Christian Aid among organisations warning move will harm those most in need and reduce UK’s power overseas

The prime minister’s announcement on Tuesday that the Department for International Development (DfID) will be merged with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has been met with widespread anger and disappointment among UK aid charities.

Stephanie Draper, the CEO of Bond, a UK network for international development NGOs, said the announcement on Tuesday, during the coronavirus pandemic, couldn’t have come at a worse time.

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The aid sector must do more to tackle its white supremacy problem

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Racism is embedded in structures and power dynamics, so we should logically conclude that we are not immune

As events unfold in the US and across the world, colleagues in the aid sector are closely watching, and sharing their solidarity. After all they are allies and educators of human rights.

Yet as various institutions grapple with their failure to address discrimination, there has been a disappointing lack of self-reflection in our sector. If we understand that racism is embedded in structures, that it is part of engrained power dynamics, we should logically conclude that we are not immune.

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Independent DfID ‘imperative’ for effective UK overseas aid, say MPs

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Report says merger with Foreign and Commonwealth Office could erode accountability and shift funds from poverty reduction

The Department for International Development (DfID) must be kept separate from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office if Britain is to help end extreme poverty and retain its reputation and influence overseas, MPs have warned.

The cross-party international development committee warned that reorganising the aid effort could impair the effectiveness of Britain’s £15.2bn aid budget, which includes tackling the coronavirus pandemic.

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Oxfam funding crisis puts 200 UK jobs at risk

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Threatened job losses follow announcement of 1,500 redundancies internationally and closure of offices in 18 countries

More than 200 UK jobs could be lost at Oxfam, after the charity’s funding plummeted during the coronavirus pandemic.

The threatened UK job cuts are in addition to the loss of almost 1,500 staff roles internationally and the closure of offices in 18 countries, announced by the aid organisation in May.

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Yemen faces ‘macabre tragedy’ as aid funding falls short by $1bn

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UN says country is on cliff edge after fundraising summit raises only $1.35bn for the year

Yemen remains on the brink of “a macabre tragedy”, the UN has warned after a humanitarian fundraising summit raised only $1.35bn (£1.05bn) for this year, around $1bn short of the target and only half the sum raised at the equivalent pledging conference last year.

The UN’s humanitarian chief, Mark Lowcock, said unless more money was raised Yemen “will face a horrific outcome at the end of the year”. 

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Nigerian forces accused of torture and illegal detention of children – report

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Amnesty International alleges that at least 10,000 died while being wrongly held – some of them in a centre part funded by the UK

Widespread unlawful detention and torture by Nigerian security forces has aggravated the suffering of a generation of children and tens of thousands of people in north-east Nigeria, according to a new report.

At least 10,000 victims – many of them children – have died in military detention, among the many thousands more arrested during a decade-long conflict with jihadist groups, according to Amnesty International.

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‘The issue now is surviving’: countries react with shock to Oxfam withdrawal

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Locals, NGOs and politicians express fears for world’s most vulnerable as charity announces withdrawal from 18 countries due to financial impact of Covid-19

Oxfam International’s announcement that it will close operations in countries including Afghanistan and Haiti has prompted fears that regions are being abandoned just as the coronavirus pandemic makes them more vulnerable.

Oxfam said the impact of Covid-19 on its finances had forced it to fast-track a global restructuring programme, which entails the closure of 18 country offices.

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£40m for islanders exiled from British territory goes unspent

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Chagossians promised aid go hungry as coronavirus renders them jobless in a foreign state

Chagos Islanders living in exile from the territory claimed by Britain, and left destitute by the coronavirus downturn, have been refused support by the UK government, leaving some unable to buy enough food.

They question why a £40m support package – which was announced by the UK government in 2016 to assist Chagossians living in the UK, Mauritius and Seychelles – isn’t being used to help them during this time. The fund has gone largely unspent since its launch.

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UK aid efforts to tackle gender equality marred by ‘inaccuracy’, says watchdog

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Whitehall auditor warns ‘ambitious aims’ will not be achieved without better oversight, planning and evaluation of programmes

Efforts by the UK government to achieve gender equality through its aid programmes need to be better managed and more transparent, according to the financial watchdog.

The National Audit Office (NAO) said the Department for International Development’s (DfID) 12-year gender equality strategy was wide-ranging, but did not have a long-term, costed, implementation plan, limiting “its ability to assess progress and consider value for money”.

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Coronavirus ‘could undo 30 years of UK’s international development work’

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Impact of pandemic could be felt by world’s poorest for years to come, international development secretary tells MPs

The coronavirus pandemic threatens to undo 30 years of international development work, with a bleak picture for the world’s poorest, the international development secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, told MPs.

Giving evidence to a parliamentary inquiry into the effectiveness of UK aid, Trevelyan said her biggest fear was that the secondary impact of the health crisis would be felt by the world’s poorest for years to come.

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Coronavirus pandemic ‘will cause famine of biblical proportions’

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Governments must act now to stop 265 million starving, warns World Food Programme boss

The world is facing widespread famine “of biblical proportions” because of the coronavirus pandemic, the chief of the UN’s food relief agency has warned, with a short time to act before hundreds of millions starve.

More than 30 countries in the developing world could experience widespread famine, and in 10 of those countries there are already more than 1 million people on the brink of starvation, said David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Programme.

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UN agencies issue urgent coronavirus appeal after $2bn request falls well short

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Exclusive: aid officials seek $350m for transport system to get support to poorest regions

The heads of all the UN’s major agencies have issued a graphic warning of the risk of coronavirus to the world’s most vulnerable countries after disclosing that international donors had pledged around a quarter of the $2bn the UN requested for its emergency Covid-19 response in March.

In an open letter shared before publication with the Guardian, the world’s most senior emergencies, health and development officials, warned that help for the world’s weakest countries was in everyone’s “interest to stop the virus from spreading unchecked, destroying lives and economies, and continuing to circle around the world”.

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Countries urged to step up spending as national goals go unmet

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Campaigners call for action as majority of big countries fall short of 0.7% aid target

The world’s major powers have failed to make progress towards meeting their commitments on aid spending, according to new data, prompting calls for countries to step up in the face of the Covid-19 outbreak.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) update on spending in 2019, published on Thursday, showed aid contributions by its forum of the largest donors were less than half the targeted 0.7% of their gross national income.

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Foreigners targeted in Central African Republic as coronavirus fears grow

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Peacekeeping and aid operations face disruption as outsiders are scapegoated in one of Africa’s most vulnerable countries

A backlash against foreigners in Central African Republic threatens to disrupt peacekeeping and aid supplies in one of Africa’s most fragile countries.

Since an Italian missionary was identified as CAR’s first coronavirus case last month, xenophobia has been on the rise. Unfounded stories widely published in the country’s newspapers and on social media have portrayed foreigners as unwelcome importers of a disease that could further impoverish the country.

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Sanctions should not impede coronavirus fight, EU diplomat says

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Josep Borrell backs UN call for global ceasefire to allow the world to focus on pandemic

Sanctions should not stop the delivery of medical equipment and supplies to countries trying to contain outbreaks of coronavirus, the EU’s top diplomat has said.

Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, made his comments in a declaration on Friday in which he backed the UN’s call for an immediate global ceasefire to allow the world to focus on the pandemic.

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Scott Morrison calls the Pacific our ‘family’; Covid-19 is Australia’s chance to prove that | Pat Conroy

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It is Australia’s duty – and in our national interest – to respond to the health and economic challenges caused by coronavirus in the Pacific

The Covid-19 crisis has caused Australians to examine our hospital system with one question in mind: can it handle the coronavirus surge? There has been fierce debate about whether doubling our ventilators from 2,200 to over 4,000 is sufficient.

Australia currently has one ventilator and one Intensive Care Unit (ICU) bed per 11,000 people. We have one doctor for every 285 Australians and one nurse for every 78.

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