Recommendation 9

HM Government Accepted

27. Unlocking as much investment as possible at scale for countries’ needs is central to HMG’s ‘reset approach’ to international development. HMG is moving from donor to investor partnering with countries to unlock growth, jobs and trade through innovative finance and private sector investment. Part of this is working with partners to mobilise private capital. The UK also continues to urge IFIs to redouble efforts to build resilience in fragile, conflict and violence-affected contexts. Development Finance Institutions like British International Investment (BII) are vital. BII deploys patient capital to stimulate private sector growth in developing economies, balancing financial returns with development impact. In the past decade, BII has returned £1.2 billion to the UK which has been reinvested to create a development impact many times over, including in countries such as Sudan. Alongside support to reform the global financial system and help countries grow fairer, more resilient economies, this will end the need for aid in the long term. 28. We continue to invest ODA in UN peacebuilding, including the UN Peacebuilding Fund of which the UK remains a top 10 donor. We judge the UN has the network and scale to have impact in UK priority settings, offering strong value for money and assess that mobilising greater IFI investment in fragile contexts and conflict prevention is an effective mid to long term goal to significantly scale up the finance needed. Our continued investment in the UN-IFI Partnership Facility is designed to catalysis this, given the Facility’s proven track record of generating UN-IFI synergies on peacebuilding and conflict prevention in field settings. 29. HMG agrees that maintaining and building UK conflict expertise, credibility and leadership is essential. The FCDO’s Conflict Resources Hub provides HMG with access to policy expertise, training, peer engagement, and evidence-based practice and is supplemented by targeted training courses and events. Peer networks, including the Conflict Cadre, help foster collaboration and knowledge exchange across geographies and thematic areas. 30. The UK builds platforms and partnerships to exchange knowledge and capabilities on conflict prevention, resolution and peacebuilding. For example, the FCDO maintains a world-leading programme of publicly accessible conflict research and takes a partnership approach to bilateral capacity-building, including through aligning the UK’s mediation expertise with partner countries’ local or regional insights. The UK also supports the UN’s Complex Risk Analytics Fund to strengthen global risk foresight capabilities. Investing in multilateral organisations is an effective way for the FCDO to scale up input and impact and demonstrate global leadership on this topic. 31. Across the multilateral system the UK works with European and wider like-minded partners to coordinate and burden share on international peace and security.