Category Archives: Department for International Development (DfID)

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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Losing DfID would be a calamity for the world’s poor – and for Britain

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British aid saves lives, commands global respect and chimes with the public mood. Merging DfID with the Foreign Office would be disastrous

Britain has a proud track record of supporting the world’s poorest through its aid commitments. This is not only morally the right thing to do, it is also the smart thing to do.

This cast-iron commitment to the poorest indirectly creates significant soft power for Britain. Disrupt this commitment by merging the Department for International Development (DfID) into the Foreign Office and diverting more aid to UK national interest, and you produce a lose-lose: the world’s poorest (wrongly) suffer, and significant British soft power immediately drains away, at precisely the time when the country is trying to redefine its role in the world.

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Aid groups warn Boris Johnson against combining DfID with Foreign Office

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Charities caution that ‘UK aid risks becoming a vehicle for UK foreign policy’ if post-Brexit merger comes to fruition

A coalition of aid groups including the British Red Cross, Cafod and Oxfam GB has warned Boris Johnson that to abolish the Department for International Development would suggest Britain is “turning our backs on the world’s poorest people”.

One climate diplomacy expert said it would be “political suicide” to merge DfID with the Foreign Office in 2020, the same year the UK is hosting the UN climate summit, since the move would tie up senior civil servants when they were most needed to tackle the response to the climate crisis.

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Now Britain’s navel-gazing has to end. It’s time to keep our aid pledge to the world

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DfID must remain independent to safeguard aid commitments and our global reputation, says former minister

We are standing at a pivotal moment in the UK’s relationship with the rest of the world.

As parliament reassembles post-election, nations around the world, both within the EU and beyond, are waiting to see what direction the UK will take.

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UK still funding Myanmar camps despite UN boycott over conditions

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Humanitarian agencies say Rohingya people displaced by violence in Rakhine state are forced to live in ‘apartheid-like’ facilities

The UK has broken ranks with the UN and is continuing to put money into squalid Rohingya “apartheid-like” camps, despite a policy designed to avoid complicity in Myanmar’s rights abuses, the Guardian has learned.

Internal briefing documents as well as interviews with UN and humanitarian agency officials in Myanmar showed the British government was maintaining a policy of providing aid and other support to displaced people living in camps in Myanmar’s Rakhine state that have been slated for closure since 2017.

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British government takes global lead on violence against women and girls

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Seven-year, £67.5m initiative aims to build on existing successes in Africa and Asia and explore new approaches

Britain has become the biggest government funder of programmes to prevent violence against women and girls globally after launching a seven-year project targeting countries with some of the highest levels of abuse.

The £67.5m programme will scale up projects that have already shown success in reducing violence across Africa and Asia, and will pilot and research new ideas to tackle the global crisis.

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Aid agencies accused of failure to make good on Oxfam abuse scandal pledges

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MPs point to lack of progress on promised safeguarding improvements for whistleblowers and survivors

MPs have accused aid organisations of “dragging their feet” over combating sexual exploitation and abuse in the sector, despite safeguarding pledges made in 2018 after the Oxfam abuse scandal.

Work to improve protection and support for whistleblowers has “stalled”, and more needs to be done to protect survivors, a report by the UK international development committee (IDC) has said.

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UK promises extra £600m for family planning in poorest countries

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Majority of funding will go to UN population fund, which works across countries with highest maternal death rates

The UK government has pledged to spend an extra £600m to support family planning programmes in some of the world’s poorest countries.

Most of the money, which will be rolled out between 2020 and 2025, will be given to the UN population fund (UNFPA), which works in 150 countries, including the 46 with the highest rates of maternal deaths and lowest rates of modern contraceptive use.

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Trade and foreign aid: will Boris Johnson bring an end to DfID?

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Johnson’s wish that aid should serve the UK’s political and commercial interests could mean a merger for the Department of International Development

In his victory speech, Boris Johnson spoke of the “jostling sets of instincts in the human heart” – the instinct to earn money and look after your own family, set against that of looking after the poorest and neediest, and promoting the good of society as a whole. The Tory party has the “best instincts” to balance these desires, he said.

This balancing act will be tested soon after he moves into No 10. How will he ensure the UK, which has the third largest aid budget in the world, retains its reputation as a “development superpower”, in the words of former international development secretary Penny Mordaunt, with the competing trade, diplomacy and defence requirements of post-Brexit Britain?

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Rory Stewart: Boris Johnson win would bring DfID tenure to ‘heartbreaking’ end

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Development minister fears impact of no-deal Brexit on UK role in reducing global poverty

Rory Stewart has said it would be “heartbreaking” to leave his job as international development secretary were Boris Johnson to become the next prime minister.

Stewart, an anti no-deal candidate who was knocked out of the Tory leadership contest after last week after a television debate, has vowed not to serve in a Johnson cabinet.

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Aid sector action to tackle abuse ‘completely unsatisfactory’, say MPs

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International development committee evidence session on fighting sexual misconduct finds little has changed

Private aid companies and charities will be asked to reappear before MPs, after evidence given on tackling sexual abuse was condemned as “completely unsatisfactory”.

Stephen Twigg, chair of the international development committee (IDC), said he intended to invite representatives of both groups back.

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Rory Stewart defends UK aid target and vows to tackle climate ’emergency’

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New development minister mounts staunch defence of 0.7% commitment and says DfID will keep spending on climate change

Rory Stewart, the new secretary of state for international development, has reiterated his support for the government’s commitment to spend 0.7% of national income on overseas aid.

Stewart, the former prisons minister, who was appointed to his new role on Wednesday night after Penny Mordaunt replaced the sacked Gavin Williamson as defence minister, also pledged to put climate change at the heart of his work.

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Will the UK commitment to development become another casualty of Brexit? | Preet Kaur Gill

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Uncertainty and the falling pound are jeopardising aid that millions of people worldwide rely on, says the shadow development minister

Since the 2016 referendum we have all learned a lot more about the depth of the relationship between the UK and the EU; whether it’s joint cooperation on research, or the potential impact of leaving the EU on agriculture exports.

When considering the effects of Brexit, parliamentarians have focused their attention on our constituencies and the country as a whole. International development has only raised its head in discussions of post-Brexit trade deals.

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Penny Mordaunt says UK will defend abortion rights amid global pushback

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Development secretary vows government will ‘hold a strong line’, after attempts by Trump administration to weaken commitments

Britain’s international development secretary has promised to stand firm in her support for abortion rights in the face of growing opposition.

Speaking at an event hosted by the Canadian embassy on Monday, Penny Mordaunt said: “Leadership means not shying away from issues like safe abortion when the evidence shows us these services will save women’s lives.”

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UK policy on migration ‘disconnected and incoherent’, MPs warn

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Report says aid to displaced people in Africa undermined by Home Office approach to asylum seekers and refugees

The UK government’s migration policy is “disconnected and incoherent” and involves the pitting of one government department against another, a report by MPs has said.

The international development committee (IDC) urged the government to double the number of vulnerable refugees offered resettlement in Britain, up to 10,000 a year.

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