Recommendation 4

HM Government Deferred

Government Response – Partially Agree 16. The Government recognises the linkages between the prevalence of disability and inadequate nutrition. Children with disabilities suffer disproportionately higher rates of malnutrition yet are less likely to benefit from nutritional programmes. This is most often due to an interplay of factors including physical problems in feeding, a lack of knowledge or skills among caregivers regarding feeding practices, or broader societal causes related to neglect or stigma. Malnutrition itself can also cause life-long functional and cognitive impairment. 17. In February, the Prime Minister announced the government’s commitment to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP from April 2027, to be funded by a reduction to ODA spending. Reducing the overall size of our ODA budget will necessarily have an impact on the scale and shape of the work we do. It was therefore necessary to pause the refresh of our Disability Inclusion and Rights Strategy. We will consider options for updating it once the multi- year Spending Review has concluded and our future priorities and resource allocation decisions on international development are clearer. Conflict and fragile states Conclusion and Recommendation 5 Conflict breeds hunger and hunger breeds conflict. We recommend that stabilisation and peace building at both the programme and diplomatic level is made a priority for the Government as it seeks to end hunger by 2030. (Recommendation 5) Government response – Partially Agree 18. The UK remains committed to working at all levels to promote stabilisation and peacebuilding. The Government recognises that the drivers of acute food insecurity are complex, often involving multiple and interrelated factors arising from armed conflict and insecurity, economic shocks and weather extremes. We agree that food insecurity is a factor driving conflict and that conflict drives food insecurity. 19. We are proactively addressing conflict-induced hunger. The UK uses its seat at the UN Security Council to champion and implement Resolution 2417 which enables reporting and early warnings when parties to conflict cause food insecurity and famine risk. We used our position to urge swift action when such warnings have been issued last year on Gaza and Sudan. The UK has produced a Legal Handbook on the international rules that play a role in avoiding and addressing food insecurity in armed conflict to promote understanding and improve compliance with international humanitarian law. 20. Alongside diplomatic levers, our bilateral peacebuilding, human rights and wider development programme work helps to address the root causes of violence and the environments where conflicts are more likely to take place. To support our programme work, UK expertise works across the world to provide analysis and advice on preventing the spread and escalation of conflict risks, working closely across Government, civil society and the international community. 21. As well as bilateral programmes, the UK is one of the biggest contributors to the UN Peacebuilding Fund, the primary mechanism supporting UN prevention and peacebuilding activity in over 40 countries including Sudan, South Sudan, West Africa, and the Sahel. The UK has contributed over £175 million since the inception of the fund in 2006, including £5 million in 2024/2025. UK Government spending and the impact of reductions in funding Conclusions and recommendations (6–8) The handling of the merger of DFID with the FCO, and that of the subsequent sudden and drastic cuts in programme spending, was very damaging for the UK’s efforts toward SDG2. Not only did it damage the UK’s reputation as a leader and innovator toward the goal of ending hunger and malnutrition but reduced the support to millions of people around the world who depended on these programmes. The reduction of ODA from 0.5% to 0.3% of GNI in February 2025 could not have come at a worse time, with cuts in donor spending across Europe and in the United States of America and ever-increasing need. If the Government fails to learn the lessons from the handling of the cuts in 2020, the misery inflicted on millions will be incalculable, the progress that has been made will stall, and the damage to the UK’s reputation will be all but impossible to reverse. We urge the Government to reconsider the reduction in Official Development Assistance (Recommendation 6) Government Response – Disagree 22. At this time of profound change, with conflicts overseas undermining security and prosperity at home, the Prime Minister has taken the decision to increase spending on defence to 2.5% of GDP from 2027, funded by reducing ODA to 0.3% of GNI and reinvesting it into defence. Protecting our national security is the first duty of any government. 23. We have learned lessons from previous reductions, including by gradually reducing the ODA budget to 0.3% of GNI in 2027 to help smooth the transition and by carefully considering the significan