Unpredictable International Development Funding
Lack of predictable and long-term funding for UK-funded international development initiatives, risking their quality and expertise.
Strongest theme matches
Mixed across source types and ranked by classifier confidence plus text match strength.
Committee recommendation
98match
#13 - Ensure Official Development Assistance for nutrition and food security programming is predictable and long-term.
We recommend that the FCDO put measures in place to ensure that all Official Development Assistance committed to nutrition and food security related programming is predictable and long term, with better safeguards against, and warnings of, any changes to funding agreements with delivery partners. We request the Government outline clearly in their response how 52 it intends to...
Matched on
terms: development, funding, international
Committee recommendation
94match
#11 - Cuts to ODA funding threaten UK's global AMR efforts and Fleming Fund initiatives
An important part of the UK’s international work on AMR is the aid provided, particularly through the Fleming Fund, to fund AMR initiatives in low- and middle-income countries. This aid can help support the global fight against AMR, for example by helping to develop surveillance and data collection for AMR in countries with less well-established healthcare systems.25 DHSC...
Matched on
terms: development, funding, international
Committee recommendation
94match
#29 - Commit to multi-year funding for energy projects, supporting their full life cycle
The Government should commit to multi-year funding structures that support projects across their full life cycle. This should include not only initial deployment but also ongoing maintenance, technical assistance, and governance support. The aim is to ensure that local communities can benefit from energy systems over the long term and are able to become self- sustaining as soon...
Matched on
terms: development, funding, international
Committee recommendation
89match
#28 - Ensure long-term financial support for RUTF/MMS and pledge £50m to the Child Nutrition Fund.
The Government should work with governments and organisations to ensure continued long-term, predictable financial support for Ready-to use Therapeutic Foods and Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation packs, to address the needs of children and pregnant women in humanitarian situations. This should support local production, where possible, and partner with national governments in the promotion of their use. In addition, we...
Matched on
terms: development, funding, international
Committee recommendation
86match
#28 - 2nd Report – UK International Climate Finance: Sustaining Commitments and Impact Amid a Shrinking Aid Budget
The government must factor in considerations around any future funding changes, including how best to mitigate and manage their unintended consequences, both for its international reputation and for the ability of its in-country staff to operate effectively. (Conclusion, Paragraph 89)
Matched on
terms: development, funding, international
Committee recommendation
86match
#11 - 1st Report – The UK’s development partnership with Nigeria
We are concerned by evidence that funding reductions have weakened displacement monitoring. (Conclusion, Paragraph 51) 46
Matched on
terms: development, funding, international
Committee recommendation
86match
#14 - Reconsider cuts to women and girls-specific programming and consider ringfencing funding.
In the light of these impact assessments, the Government must reconsider the cuts to women and girls-specific programming announced by the Minister and should consider ringfencing funding for this programming. (Recommendation, Paragraph 80)
Matched on
terms: development, funding, international
Committee recommendation
86match
#11 - Funding cuts to gender-specific programming devastate women and girls, denying vital support.
Funding cuts to gender-specific programming will be devastating for women and girls, starving them of vital support and services. The Government has not learned lessons from the previous Government about the severe impacts of funding cuts to programming for women and girls. (Conclusion, Paragraph 77)
Matched on
terms: development, funding, international
Committee recommendation
85match
#63 - Tenth Report - The humanitarian situation in Tigray
The UN regularly publishes and updates information on the funding needed and provided for the crisis in Tigray. In February it published a breakdown that showed that while the overall response was 71% funded, some sectors were a long way from being fully funded. For example, dedicated funding for refugees, WASH and health are, according to figure 2...
Matched on
terms: development, funding, international
Committee recommendation
85match
#9 - First Report - Racism in the aid sector
The FCDO should consider how it can restructure its funding commitments to give long-term certainty to local civil society organisations to ensure funding that has been committed cannot be suddenly withdrawn at short notice. (Paragraph 27) Communications and storytelling
Matched on
terms: development, funding, international
Committee recommendation
85match
#9 - Repeated UK aid budget cuts damage reputation and hinder long-term Value for Money.
Guaranteed, long-term funding for programmes is essential for ensuring that VfM is achieved, and that the impact of FCDO work continues to be felt long after the end of a programme. In the last five years, the UK has significantly cut its aid budget twice—damaging not just its international reputation and standing, but also those most in dire...
Matched on
terms: development, funding, international
Committee recommendation
81match
#5 - 4th Report – The National Security Strategy
The Government should ensure it has a full and robust assessment of the national security risks of reducing the Official Development Assistance budget, resisting further cuts that could have a damaging effect for UK strategic interests. We note the International Development Committee is further examining the future of UK aid and hope the Government will engage with that...
Matched on
terms: development, funding, international
Committee recommendation
81match
#64 - Tenth Report - The humanitarian situation in Tigray
Paul Turnbull, UN WFP Ethiopia, told us that: The funding has not really been that great, considering the needs on the ground. We know that many donor countries we have relied on in the past are having a very difficult time in terms of their own economies, so the timing in terms of the response for Tigray is...
Matched on
terms: development, funding, international
Committee recommendation
78match
#19 - 2nd Report – UK International Climate Finance: Sustaining Commitments and Impact Amid a Shrinking Aid Budget
We welcome the government’s long overdue decision to invest in the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF), given the instrumental role the UK has played in designing the fund. The committee understand that the government must take difficult prioritisation decisions in view of its constrained ODA budget. However, we strongly believe that the government’s pending £400 million investment in...
Matched on
terms: development, international
Committee recommendation
77match
#2 - 3rd Report - Science diplomacy: Sovereignty, strategy, and the global race
In its response to this report, the government should set out its assessment of the impact of ODA cuts on international science collaboration, including on areas such as the International Science Partnership Framework. While recognising the pressures and trade- offs facing public finances, we urge the government to restore ODA funding for research and development across departments, given...
Matched on
terms: development, funding, international
Committee recommendation
77match
#67 - Tenth Report - The humanitarian situation in Tigray
Dr Rogg, FCDO, told us £15.4 million had been announced and disbursed specifically for the crisis to date.148 Paul Turnbull called for additional funding for the crisis, telling us that: We have been a beneficiary of DfID and FCDO. If we look at the last decade, DfID contributed over $400 million to WFP Ethiopia. In fact, even last...
Matched on
terms: development, funding, international
Committee recommendation
74match
#27 - 2nd Report – UK International Climate Finance: Sustaining Commitments and Impact Amid a Shrinking Aid Budget
The UK needs to be seen as a reliable partner and recognise that where sudden reductions in ODA have occurred across the portfolio, its credibility and return on investment are likely to be impacted. (Conclusion, Paragraph 88)
Matched on
terms: development, international
Committee recommendation
74match
#21 - 2nd Report – UK International Climate Finance: Sustaining Commitments and Impact Amid a Shrinking Aid Budget
The government is increasingly shifting its focus to using both ODA and non- ODA instruments to unlock an unquantified amount of private finance for climate and nature outcomes. This is in a bid to use the ODA element of its ICF, and other public finance, to leverage private finance to generate greater impact despite reduced resources. However, in...
Matched on
terms: development, international
Committee recommendation
74match
#20 - 2nd Report – UK International Climate Finance: Sustaining Commitments and Impact Amid a Shrinking Aid Budget
The government should reconsider its decision to fund its investment in the TFFF by redirecting existing grant-based ICF towards loans, rather than drawing on new and additional sources. Nevertheless, we believe that it should continue to provide technical assistance on innovative finance instruments pioneered by countries at the forefront of the climate crisis. In doing so, it should...
Matched on
terms: development, international
Committee recommendation
74match
#12 - 2nd Report – UK International Climate Finance: Sustaining Commitments and Impact Amid a Shrinking Aid Budget
We urge the government to set geographic targets for the UK’s limited, highly concessional ICF resources to avoid deepening climate-vulnerable countries’ debt distress. Specifically, for LDCs, SIDS, LICs and other highly fragile countries, it should set a minimum share of the UK’s grant- based public ICF, to meet countries’ non-revenue generating needs, such as resilience building and adaptation....
Matched on
terms: development, international
Committee recommendation
74match
#1 - 2nd Report – UK International Climate Finance: Sustaining Commitments and Impact Amid a Shrinking Aid Budget
The government has prioritised maintaining headline ICF3 spending commitments under the constraints of its ODA budget, as opposed to striving to deliver genuine climate and nature outcomes. The government’s changes to ICF accounting methodology have undermined the impact, additionality and credibility of ICF3, and any future commitments, by counting reclassified humanitarian ODA towards UK ICF – despite the...
Matched on
terms: development, international
Committee recommendation
74match
#20 - 1st Report – The UK’s development partnership with Nigeria
The FCDO must set out its spending plans on these areas in Nigeria in response to this report, including detailed Integrated Security Fund spending plans. (Recommendation, Paragraph 86)
Matched on
terms: development, international
Committee recommendation
74match
#18 - 1st Report – The UK’s development partnership with Nigeria
While many of these programmes satisfy the pleas made to us by witnesses and stakeholders for improvements in UK programming across Nigeria and the Sahel, they are clearly insufficient: conflict, extremism and banditry continue to rise, with severe knock-on effects for Nigerians and for regional security. Given the relatively low UK spending on responses to security issues, in...
Matched on
terms: development, international
Committee recommendation
74match
#5 - 1st Report – The UK’s development partnership with Nigeria
As we outlined in our report, “The Future of UK Aid and Development Assistance”, the FCDO will need to set out further details on how its four essential shifts can create a step-change in policy efficacy and implementation. A belief that a changed mindset alone will make a 45 marked difference, in an era of significantly constrained spending,...
Matched on
terms: development, international
Committee recommendation
74match
#2 - 1st Report – The UK’s development partnership with Nigeria
The Department must commit to aligning the announcement of new approaches and strategies with the release of spending plans, in order to generate confidence in its plans and its appetite for transparency. (Recommendation, Paragraph 6) The Nigeria-UK Strategic Partnership
Matched on
terms: development, international
Committee recommendation
74match
#1 - 1st Report – The UK’s development partnership with Nigeria
We are disappointed by the delayed release of the FCDO’s Official Development Assistance country allocations for the coming years. This made deeper scrutiny of FCDO strategy in Nigeria difficult while our inquiry was under way, as we did not have access to spending plans for the years ahead. (Conclusion, Paragraph 5)
Matched on
terms: development, international
Committee recommendation
74match
#12 - Reconsider reduction in Official Development Assistance from 0.5% to 0.3% of GNI.
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...
Matched on
terms: development, international
Committee recommendation
73match
#10 - Fourth Report - Effectiveness of UK aid: potential impact of FCO/DFID merger
In the face of pandemic-related budget cuts, difficult decisions will need to be made as to how savings can be made whilst protecting the overall effectiveness of aid spending. Given the grave challenges faced by developing countries in tackling COVID-19, disproportionately cutting long-term and locally led development programmes would hamper both present efforts to tackle the pandemic and...
Matched on
terms: development, international
Committee recommendation
73match
#68 - Tenth Report - The humanitarian situation in Tigray
A failure to adequately resource the response to this crisis increases the risk of a ripple effect of instability throughout the region. The failure to support the communities of Tigray, combined with the lack of an inclusive political settlement, compromises hard-won development gains in Ethiopia, and has the potential to jeopardise the broader development and stability gains funded...
Matched on
terms: development, international
Committee recommendation
69match
#1 - Second Report - The Conflict, Stability and Security Fund
The Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) was established to deliver a cross- Government response to challenges overseas which threaten UK national security, using both Official Development Assistance (ODA) and non-ODA funding. ODA programmes within the CSSF have suffered significant cuts, shifting the emphasis of the Fund away from peacebuilding and conflict prevention and creating a de facto...
Matched on
terms: development, funding
Committee recommendation
69match
#1 - Fifth Report - Humanitarian crises monitoring: impact of coronavirus (interim findings)
We recommend that, as part of a renewed consistent approach to promoting global health, the FCDO should continue to fund existing programmes aimed at the eradication of previously identified diseases. The Government should use its integrated voice to lobby development allies and partners to stop any transfer of resources from existing programmes, and the Global Fund, to Covid...
Matched on
terms: development, international
Committee recommendation
69match
#18 - First report - Missing in action: UK leadership and the withdrawal from Afghanistan
The halving of UK aid to Afghanistan in 2020/1 is an example of the harm done by aid cuts that were designed to reduce spending at speed, rather than considering wider UK strategic interests. These cuts, made at a time when Afghanistan was facing the withdrawal of international troops, speak to a disconnect between the UK’s development aid...
Matched on
terms: development, international
Committee recommendation
65match
#4 - 4th Report – The National Security Strategy
Soft power is a crucial source of UK influence and security abroad. Its erosion would have direct security consequences, most clearly in Africa, where Russia and China are increasingly filling the space left by the withdrawal of the soft power presence of the UK and allies. Official Development Assistance and bodies such as the BBC World Service and...
Matched on
terms: development, funding
Committee recommendation
65match
#13 - Fourth Report - Effectiveness of UK aid: potential impact of FCO/DFID merger
Multilateral spending forms an important part of the UK’s ODA, but we are concerned that the merger may lead to an increase in funds provided to these organisations for generalised future spending rather than targeted funds delivering immediate benefits. As part of the Integrated Review, the Government should set out its strategy for development spending through multilateral institutions...
Matched on
terms: development, international
Committee recommendation
65match
#6 - Fourth Report - Effectiveness of UK aid: potential impact of FCO/DFID merger
Poverty reduction should continue to form a central part of the Government’s international policy. Accordingly, it should commit to targeting the majority of the UK’s ODA spend towards the very poorest countries. The Government should also set out how its refreshed international policy intends to work towards attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals and ensure that no-one is...
Matched on
terms: development, international
Committee recommendation
65match
#5 - Fourth Report - Effectiveness of UK aid: potential impact of FCO/DFID merger
UK aid spending amplifies the UK’s voice on the world stage, promoting our national interest by projecting our core values, and transforming the lives of people living in the very poorest countries. A potential shift of the UK’s ODA budget away from helping the very poorest people would be counterproductive - global poverty drives conflict and instability, and...
Matched on
terms: development, international
Committee recommendation
65match
#69 - Tenth Report - The humanitarian situation in Tigray
With Ethiopia currently the UK’s largest bilateral recipient of ODA, we are surprised that the UK Government has not allocated more financial assistance to the humanitarian response to the crisis in Tigray.
Matched on
terms: development, international
Committee recommendation
65match
#14 - Ensure phased transition and clear communication with partners during ODA spending cuts.
Where cuts are to be made as part of this spending review, we request the Government informs the Committee of the steps it will take to ensure that there will be a phased transition with clear communication to implementing partners, avoiding some of the damage that was done when budgets were reduced in 2020. (Recommendation, Paragraph 43)
Matched on
terms: development, international
Committee recommendation
65match
#11 - DFID/FCO merger and spending cuts damaged UK's SDG2 efforts and reputation.
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...
Matched on
terms: development, international
Committee recommendation
65match
#2 - ODA share for poverty reduction programming has declined in recent years.
Programming to reduce poverty, which drives displacement and exacerbates other drivers, has received a declining share of ODA in recent years. (Conclusion, Paragraph 29)
Matched on
terms: development, international
Committee recommendation
65match
#1 - UK ODA cuts indicate stepping back from addressing global displacement crisis.
There is a global displacement crisis. The UK cannot solve it alone, and nor should it be expected to. However, significant cuts to UK ODA and development programming indicate a United Kingdom that is stepping back from the world stage at a time when engagement and collaboration are most needed. (Conclusion, Paragraph 15) FCDO strategy
Matched on
terms: development, international
Committee recommendation
65match
#16 - Detail interim private finance investments to plug ODA gap and safeguard UK conflict expertise.
It should also detail what interim investments it has made for private finance to plug the Official Development Assistance gap. This includes investment in civilian-led conflict prevention, resolution and peacebuilding. UK expertise, much of it currently concentrated in the Migration and Conflict Department, Integrated Security Fund and FCDO cadre of conflict advisors deployed in various diplomatic posts, is...
Matched on
terms: development
Committee recommendation
65match
#20 - Financial pressures risk undermining locally-led solutions and associated value for money benefits.
The Government has ambitious and earnest intentions for championing locally-led solutions. However, there is a significant risk that these ambitions could be lost amidst financial pressures, in favour of centrally managed programmes, and that the VfM benefits that localisation can offer will be lost. (Conclusion, Paragraph 66)
Matched on
terms: development, international
Committee recommendation
65match
#15 - Require HM Treasury to reallocate all future unspent ODA back to the FCDO.
The FCDO must make formal representation to HM Treasury that any unspent ODA allocated to other Government departments is channelled back through the FCDO to continue its vital humanitarian and development work, and to ensure that overall ODA spending does not fall even further to below 0.3%. This representation must not be on a case-by-case basis, but requesting...
Matched on
terms: development, international
Committee recommendation
65match
#10 - Require Government to return ODA spending to 0.5% GNI with a clear rebuilding schedule.
The Government must make every effort to return to spending 0.5% of GNI on ODA at a minimum, as soon as possible. The Government should produce a clear schedule for rebuilding aid from the interim level of 0.3%, with defined milestones in each Spending Review to provide certainty to the FCDO and partner countries and organisations. (Recommendation, Paragraph...
Matched on
terms: development, international
Committee recommendation
65match
#8 - Reducing ODA to 0.3% will have devastating consequences, undermining UK soft power and security.
The UK’s planned reduction of ODA spend from 0.5% to 0.3% of gross national income will have devastating consequences across the world. The Committee recognises that increased defence spending is needed and is to be welcomed. However, to do this at the expense of the world’s most vulnerable undermines not only the UK’s soft power, but also its...
Matched on
terms: development, international
Committee recommendation
61match
#1 - 3rd Report - Science diplomacy: Sovereignty, strategy, and the global race
The Committee recognises that Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) spending has been reduced to allow the wider defence budget to be increased, but highlights the risks in making deep cuts to ODA for Research and Development (R&D). The UK has been shortsighted in making cuts to this area as part of its wider cuts to overseas aid. Along with...
Matched on
terms: development
Committee recommendation
53match
#20 - Participate in multilateral peace process, supporting reconstruction and UN agencies in Gaza and West Bank.
A key component of the UK’s policy in support of a two-state solution must be participation in the reconstruction of Gaza and areas of the West Bank that have been rendered uninhabitable by military action. Institution building requires physical infrastructure as well as investment in human capital, especially education and healthcare. However, major funders in the region like...
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
53match
#14 - Publish a timeline to restore ODA spending to 0.7%, including a protected conflict budget.
For the UK to continue being a lead actor within the United Nations Security Council, and a leading global actor in the prevention and resolution of conflict, it is critical that the Government sets out a pathway and 47 timeline as to how it will return to spending 0.5%, and ultimately 0.7%, of Gross National Income on Official...
Matched on
terms: development
Committee recommendation
53match
#13 - Reduced ODA budget diminishes UK global visibility, empowering adversaries in conflict zones.
With a reduced Official Development Assistance budget and a smaller budget allocation for conflict prevention and peacebuilding efforts, the UK is less visible on the global stage and in key conflict zones. This opens up the space to our adversaries and competitors to make significant inroads, particularly China, Iran and Russia. (Conclusion, Paragraph 65)
Matched on
terms: development