Select committee: International Relations and Defence Committee
Recommendation 122
2nd Report - The UK and Afghanistan
Published 13 Jan 2021
Paragraph 560
International Relations and Defence Committee The UK and Afghanistan All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
We reiterate our opposition to the UK Government’s decision not to meet its statutory target to spend 0.7% of its Gross National Income (GNI) on official development assistance (ODA) from 2021. We accept that the COVID-19 pandemic has put considerable pressure on Government finances and that the UK’s aid budget would have fallen in cash terms as a result of the shrinking of the UK’s GNI. We call on the Government not to renege on the 0.7% commitment from 2021, which would undermine the UK’s standing in the world and will negatively affect some of the world’s poorest people, including in Afghanistan. There is not a case for cuts to UK aid to the Afghan people, and Afghanistan’s aid dependence makes it particularly vulnerable to future cuts in ODA provision.
From: International Relations and Defence Committee, 2nd Report - The UK and Afghanistan, paragraph 560, 13 January 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 12 March 2021 (deadline 13 March 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government says Afghanistan "remains a priority" and agrees with a number of the Committee's conclusions, while stating that it does not judge counter-narcotics efforts to have "ultimately failed" and that the cut in aid spending is temporary.
- On a multinational approach, the government says it "agree[s] with the committee's recommendation that the UK should seek to reinforce the multinational approach" and "will continue to do so".
- On counter-narcotics, it does "not judge that UK and international counter-narcotics efforts in Afghanistan have 'ultimately failed'" but recognises "the many challenges which continue to inhibit all such efforts".
- On aid, it states it will "temporarily move to a target of spending 0.5%" of GNI on ODA rather than 0.7%, and "will return to 0.7% when the fiscal situation allows".
- On interpreters, the new Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy is "expected to be launched following changes to the immigration legislation in April 2021"; third-country relocations are "expected" not to be possible, with discretion applied "on a case-by-case basis".