Policy Updates

On July 10, 2024, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, largely on a bipartisan basis, advanced a reauthorization of the BUILD Act and modified a bill concerning the MCC.

The reauthorization of the BUILD Act, the legislation that created DFC, passed with bipartisan support, extended DFC for 7 years. The reauthorization included a committee markup with amendments that improved DFC's development mandate, included new leadership for a senior development role, strengthened transparency requirements, increased DFC's risk appetite, introduced changes to investment limits in HICs, and outlined requirements to increase private capital mobilization. The MFAN, a bipartisan coalition of international development and foreign policy practitioners, policy advocates, and experts, applauded both the reauthorization and the amendments.

The committee also marked up a bill concerning the MCC and modified some requirements on MCC compact eligibility.

On July 10, 2024, Japan announced a contribution of US$45 million to UNDP's core resources for 2024.

Japan's flexible support is vital for UNDP to address global challenges and crises, as outlined in the UNDP Strategic Plan 2022–2025. The funding will contribute to crisis prevention, conflict resolution, peace sustainability, human rights protection, and addressing the root causes of fragility within the context of human security.

Core resources from Japan and other partners are essential for UNDP’s operations, enabling impactful initiatives and programs that promote poverty eradication, gender equality, and the SDGs. These contributions ensure that UNDP can deliver on its mission to create a more equitable and prosperous world, leaving no one behind.

On July 10, 2024, the Australian National University’s annual public opinion survey on ODA reveals that more Australians believe Australia disburses too much ODA than years prior, indicating a decline in public support for increasing ODA expenditures.

Conducted by the university’s Development Policy Centre, the poll indicated that 40% of Australians believe Australia disburses too much ODA, compared to 36% in 2023. A total of 51% of respondents believed that Australia gave either too little or about the correct amount of ODA.

The Development Policy Centre polls Australians annually to track changes in attitude over time. It also provided respondents with details of Australian government expenditures on ODA.

On July 9, 2024, the OECD published the conclusions and recommendations for France’s development cooperation policies as reviewed by its peers.

The peer review report is published every five years. The review of French development policy took place between September 2023 and May 2024 and was led by Belgium and Japan, accompanied by the OECD Secretariat. The report was jointly managed by the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Directorate General of the Treasury, and the AFD.

The report stated that France has embarked on an ambitious reform of its development co-operation in institutional, strategic and financial terms. It noted that in addition to substantially increasing ODA resources and a strengthening its crisis response instruments, France has championed the linkages between green and social agendas as well as the mobilization of the private sector.

The report makes several recommendations, including:

• Strengthening harmonization between technical assistance and other instruments;
• Taking greater account of poverty and inequality in Proparco’s portfolio;
• Increasing ODA to reach the targets of 0.7% of ODA/GNI and 50% financial effort for LDCs;
• Equipping steering bodies to monitor the overall coherence of development cooperation;
• Using local development councils to coordinate Team France around policy objectives and common results defined at country level; and
• Optimizing the integration of social and green agendas for the AFD Group by taking greater account of cross-cutting dimensions of sustainable development, including long-term objectives, and measuring ex-post performance to inform steering.

On July 9, 2024, the Swedish government announced a three-year, SEK880 million (US$85 million), strategy to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Syria and its impact on neighboring countries.

The plan, to be implemented by Sida, aims to support Syrians both within their country and those who have sought refuge in Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey.

Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Johan Forssell emphasized the severity of the crisis under Syria's authoritarian regime and noted that more than half of Syria's civilian population has been displaced.

The strategy focuses on improving livelihood opportunities and access to basic public services for Syrians and refugees. It also emphasizes support for human rights, with particular attention to women's rights and religious freedom.

Sweden's approach includes efforts to hold the Assad regime accountable for its actions against Syrian civilians. Additionally, the plan addressed the crisis's broader implications for Europe, including irregular migration and the threat of violent extremism. The initiative aims to create more sustainable conditions for Syrian refugees and their host communities, while promoting voluntary return to Syria when conditions allow.

The international community continues to grapple with the long-term consequences of the Syrian conflict, now in its 13^th year. Sweden's strategy reflects a growing recognition of the need for comprehensive, regional approaches to protracted crises and underscores the ongoing humanitarian challenges in the region as well as the complex interplay between assistance, migration, and security concerns.

On July 8, 2024, the South Korean government and civil society held the 8^th Government-Civil Society Policy Council on International Development Cooperation.

In attendance were the Office for Government Policy Coordination, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Economy and Finance, KOICA, Export-Import Bank of Korea, Korea NGO Council for Overseas Development Cooperation, Korea Civil Society Forum on International Development Cooperation, Good Neighbors, World Vision Korea, People’s Initiative for Development Alternatives, and Friends of Hope, and Korea Food for the Hungry International. The attendees discussed ways for government-civil society cooperation to strengthen ODA implementation effectiveness.

The South Korean government and CSOs agreed to continue discussing ways to raise public awareness of ODA. The government noted that a recent OECD DAC peer review positively evaluated South Korea’s efforts to expand humanitarian assistance and formalize government-civil society partnerships.

The South Korean government called on civil society to continue to provide advice and contributions to the development of South Korea’s ODA based on its long-standing experience and expertise.

On July 8, 2024, it was reported that Australia’s two major domestic funders of health and medical research, the NHMRC and the MRFF, established advisory committees to provide advice on strategies and funding.

The NHMRC and the MRFF collectively provide almost AUD1.6 billion (US$1.1 billion) in medical research funding annually. A small proportion of this funding is for global health issues.

The organizations set up four advisory groups. One of these is an industry, philanthropy, and commercialization committee. This enables philanthropic involvement in guiding medical research on health strategies. A separate committee is to advise on improving preventative health, primary care and public health services and embedding translational research in the health system.

Nominations for the committees, including from philanthropic representatives and community members, close on July 31, 2024.

On July 8, 2024, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in a surprise move, appointed Anneliese Dodds FCDO Minister of State, with a brief to oversee International Development.

Dodd was also appointed Minister for Women and Equalities in the Department of Education. The shadow International Development Minister, Lisa Nandy, also in a surprise move, was appointed Minister for Culture, Media, and Sports. The former shadow Labour MP covering the Culture and Media post failed to win their seat in the national election.

On July 6 and 7, 2024, Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Caspar Veldkamp and Minister of Defense Ruben Brekelmans visited Ukraine, announcing a total contribution of EUR16 million (US$17million) to support research and fact-finding efforts.

The Netherlands is slated to provide EUR2 million (US$2 million) to enhance Ukraine’s forensic research capacity via the ICMP, EUR8 million (US$9 million) over two years for the UNHR Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, and EUR6 million (US$7 million) for a forensic mobile lab to assist with research.

On July 5, 2024, the CGD called on newly appointed UK Minister for State Anneliese Dodds and newly appointed Foreign Secretary David Lammy to focus on four key areas of reform to ensure the UK reinstates its global leadership on international development.

The four key reform areas noted were:

• Champion multilateralism: The CGD noted that working through multilateral organizations is one of the most effective ways of tackling global issues. According to the CGD’s assessment of 49 development agencies' effectiveness, multilateral organizations all score very well. the CGD called on the UK government to increase its contributions to key multilateral organizations, including Gavi and the World Bank’s IDA. The CGD also argues that the UK government should not be afraid to highlight to partners that its ODA will be spent primarily via multilateral channels, calling for an increase in the current share (36%) of ODA that is spent through multilateral organizations;
• Fix the budget: The CGD called for a stop to the previous government’s misleading accounting practices with regard to the ODA budget. These practices resulted in a near-impossible return to 0.7% ODA/GNI and significantly expanded the definition of what can be counted as ICF. The CGD called on the new government to set out a clear path for when the government will return to 0.7% ODA/GNI. It also called for a further GBP1 billion in additional funding from the Treasury to cover the rising IDRCs in the UK, to follow on from the former government's commitment to provide an additional GBP2.5 billion in 2022;
• Fix bilateral capability: The CGD noted that the UK’s bilateral ODA saw four successive rounds of cuts, which has reduced capability. The organization called for the Chancellor’s Spending Review to focus on delivering value for money, avoiding a long list of thematic commitments and focusing on efforts on the poorest countries. The CGD called on the new government to set out a more ambitious goal than the previous 50% of ODA to LDCs goal; and
• Go beyond ODA: The CGD made the case for the UK government to explore policy levers beyond ODA spending to deliver change, including trade and financial regulations.