Policy Updates

On May 2, 2024, the UK government responded to the ICAI, the UK’s aid watchdog, recommendations for tackling fraud in UK ODA funding.

The FCDO thanked ICAI for reviewing the UK's approach to combating fraud in ODA funding released earlier in 2024. The FCDO partially accepted ICAI’s first recommendation to take a more robust and proactive approach to anticipating fraud. The FCDO noted that it was actively exploring the cost-effectiveness of creating an FCDO Fraud Intelligence Unit and was expanding its Fraud Liaison Officers’ Network to strengthen oversight.

The FCDO also partially accepted the second recommendation to strengthen its fraud in its top 20 ODA recipient countries, noting that it will reinforce the mandatory annual assurance assessment across control and risk areas and expand its Fraud Liaison Officer's network.

The FCDO fully accepted the final two recommendations, which called for new fraud management guidance to be written for capital investments and to increase the Head of Mission’s oversight and accountability for fraud risks relating to centrally managed and other government programs.

On April 2, 2024, Sweden earmarked SEK120 million (US$11 million) to assistance in Gaza, Sudan, and Ukraine via the WFP, expressing deep concern over looming famine threats in these regions.

Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation Johan Forssell emphasized the significance of WFP's role in saving lives. The grant, announced during WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain's recent visit to Stockholm, underscored Sweden's commitment to combating hunger and supporting emergency operations. The contribution is part of Sweden's broader assistance to the WFP for 2024, totaling approximately SEK1.3 billion (US$121 million).

On March 27, 2024, Sida announced the cessation of its agreements with about 20 CSOs by the end of 2024.

The move is part of a broader shift towards a new ODA distribution model emphasizing a more open and competitive application process, slated to commence on January 1, 2025. This restructuring was a direct response to governmental mandates aiming to enhance the efficiency and reach of Swedish development assistance.

The abrupt end to these longstanding partnerships sparked a wave of concern and criticism among the affected organizations and their global partners. With a current budget of SEK1.8 billion (US$15 million), these strategic partnerships were a cornerstone of Sweden's development assistance, extending support to nearly 2,000 organizations worldwide. The collaborations spanned a diverse array of sectors, including labor unions, faith-based groups, environmental advocates, and human rights organizations, primarily targeting support in low- and middle-income nations.

Critics, including CONCORD Sweden, argued that the sudden shift jeopardizes the sustainability of critical development projects and undermines the implementation of ongoing initiatives. This, according to critics, not only threatens the continuity of vital programs but also risks the effective use of Swedish taxpayer contributions to global development.

On March 24, 2024, BOND published a new manifesto setting out the steps the next UK government should take to help deliver on the SDGs and work in solidarity with its partners.

The manifesto is based around seven key asks:

• Act as a responsible and ambitious development partner. This includes returning ODA to 0.7% of GNI and providing new and additional resources for meeting global climate finance and ensuring the ODA program is headed by a cabinet-level minister with dedicated and well-resourced staff;
• Create an equitable and sustainable international financial system that works for people, nature, and the climate. This includes supporting a UN sovereign debt workout mechanism to deal with unsustainable debt in lower-income countries, pursuing an ambitious MDB reform agenda that increases their provision of resources and makes their governance more representative, and supporting a universal UN Framework Convention on tax;
• Recommit to the SDGs and ‘leaving no one behind. This includes ensuring UK development programs focus on those most in need, promoting gender transformative approaches to sustainable development, acknowledging care as an economic issue and a right and build the care economy in line with the 5Rs framework{title"recognition, reduction, redistribution, representation and reward"} for care work, and scaling up efforts to deliver universal access to basic services;
• Do our fair share to tackle the global climate and biodiversity crises. This includes ensuring all ODA is aligned with the Paris Agreement, providing genuinely new and additional grant finance for the Loss and Damage Fund;
• Develop a new approach to UK trade and private sector investment. This includes introducing new legislation that mandates companies, the financial sector, and the public sector operating in the UK to carry out human rights and environmental due diligence. It also holds them to account for failures, reduce the volume of UK funding being used to capitalize BII until it reforms to ensure it does more to contribute to poverty reduction;
• Promoting stability, security and effective crisis responses. This includes providing the UK’s fair share to support humanitarian crises, championing locally led approaches to anticipatory crisis prevention, action and resilience, establishing a prevention-focused national security outlook which focuses on preventing crises as well as responding to them; and
• Protect and promote rights, freedoms and civic space. This includes prioritizing meaningful partnerships with human rights defenders, including indigenous communities, women, LGBTQI+ advocates, migrant rights advocates and environmental defenders, removing restrictions on civil society campaigning domestically, and working with other governments to reverse restrictions on civic space in public debate and policymaking.

On February 15 and 16, 2024, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan visited Norway for an official state visit, where the countries entered three new agreements on climate-adapted food production, soil health and research.

Norway and Tanzania have had a close collaboration for decades, with climate and food security being key focus areas.

Norway and Tanzania signed a cooperation agreement on climate-adapted agriculture and food security. Norway's efforts will support Tanzania's ambitions to produce 10% more food by 2030. In addition, the NIBIO and the TARI entered into a new agreement on soil health. NIBIO and TARI are slated to work together on methods to use less artificial fertilizer. Soil health is an important focus area for increasing food production and enhancing food security for smallholder farmers.

Norwegian Minister of International Development Anne Beathe Tvinnereim underlined that a close collaboration around research has become increasingly important. She emphasized this as a founding reason for why the Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences have entered into a new agreement on research collaboration.

In April 2024, the JICA and JAXA will mark ten years of collaboration, blending space technology with development cooperation.

JICA and JAXA's joint projects display the expanding potential of satellite data application, from disaster risk management to health and agricultural sectors. Their efforts highlight the role of space technology in sustainable social issue resolution and economic growth, aligning with the SDGs.

This partnership has significantly contributed to addressing illegal logging through JJ-FAST, which utilizes satellite data from ALOS-2 to detect deforestation. It includes initiatives such as enhancing the capabilities of developing countries' governments, like Brazil, in forest management through the use of AI alongside JJ-FAST. The project's success in sharing satellite data to combat illegal logging across 80 developing countries has provided valuable lessons in utilizing satellite data and space technology for cooperation, emphasizing open innovation.

The partnership has also facilitated capacity building in space technology. Through JJ-NeST initiative, started in 2019, JICA and JAXA have been providing educational opportunities for professionals and researchers in Southeast Asia, aiming to develop and utilize space technology in their home countries. The effort supported the cultivation of space personnel, crucial for the establishment of space agencies in partner nations.

The collaboration has also explored the use of satellite data in agriculture, enhancing productivity and efficiency in rice farming through the development of applications that combine satellite data with AI for crop monitoring and yield prediction. Efforts are being made to promote smart agriculture, including the installation of ground reference stations for precise location information, facilitating the advancement of autonomous agricultural machinery.

On January 28 and 29, 2024, Italy hosted the Africa-Italy Summit, chaired by the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, during which 25 African leaders and diplomats joined Italian and EU leaders to launch the pilot programs of Italy's flagship foreign policy initiative, also known as the Mattei Plan for Africa.

Meloni announced EUR5.5 billion (US$6 billion) in credits, grants, and guarantees under the plan. EUR3 billion (US$3.3 billion) will come from the Italian Climate Fund, as announced at COP28, and EUR2.5 billion (US$2.7 billion) will come from the newly created multilateral fund at the African Development Bank.

Rome identified a set of countries in the SSA and North African regions to begin implementing the plan, and noted aims to expand the list. Among the first projects announced were:

• A large vocational training center on renewable energy in Morocco;
• Education projects in Tunisia; and
• Health accessibility in the Ivory Coast.

Other projects are planned in Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, and the DRC.

Priority areas of intervention were announced as:

• Education and training: Interventions will be aimed to promote training teachers, adjusting curricula, launching new vocational and training courses in line with the needs of the labor market, and collaborating with enterprises, particularly involving Italian operators and the Italian SMEs model;
• Agriculture: Interventions will be aimed at decreasing malnutrition rates, fostering the development of agri-food supply chains, and supporting the development of non-fossil biofuels. The development of family farming, the preservation of forestry, and combating and adapting to climate change through integrated agriculture are considered fundamental;
• Health: Interventions will be aimed to promote strengthening health systems, improving accessibility and quality of primary MNCH services, strengthening local capacities for the management, training, and employment of health personnel, research, and digitalization, and developing strategies and systems to prevent and contain health threats, particularly pandemics and natural disasters; and
• Energy: Interventions will be aimed to make Italy an energy hub, acting as a bridge between Europe and Africa. Interventions will feature the climate-energy nexus to strengthen energy efficiency and the use of renewable energies, with initiatives to accelerate energy transition.
• Water: interventions will involve drilling wells powered by photovoltaic systems, maintenance of pre-existing water points, investments in distribution networks, and awareness-raising activities about using clean, potable water.

On December 19, 2023, the UK government released a new policy paper entitled Global Food Security Summit 2023 Chair's Summary: towards zero hunger and ending malnutrition, which provided a summary of the key outcomes and announcements of the UK-hosted Global Food Security Summit, held in November 2023 in London.

The summit was organized around three key themes:

Thematic Area 1: New approaches to ending preventable deaths of children.

This session highlighted that nutrition is an essential part of UHC and called for the need to integrate nutrition services into primary health care. The session also called for a more coherent approach to addressing early prevention and detection of child wasting and highlighted the need for more sustainable financing to address the issue. Associated announcements at the Summit included:

• The inauguration of Child Nutrition Fund, a new financing mechanism to scale up funding for child wasting. The UK pledged a further GBP16 million (US$19 million) to the Fund and Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives gave an additional US$8 million;
• The publication of new WHO Guidelines on the Prevention and Management of Child Wasting;
• The UK's announcement of a doubling of support under the Child Wasting Innovation Program, bringing their contribution to a total of GBP61 million (US$73 million). The program will run until 2030;
• The UK's announcement of an additional GBP38 million (US$45.5 million) in investment in health and nutrition in Somalia over the next three years; and
• The UK’s White Paper on International Development, published on the same day as the summit, also committed the UK to championing a new Global Compact on Nutrition.

Thematic Area 2: Anticipating and preventing famine and food security crises.

This session focused on the importance of prevention and anticipation strategies in countries facing the intertwined impacts of climate and conflict and the need to mainstream early warning systems. It also highlighted the need to scale-up disaster risk finance for fragile and conflict-affected states and ensure that flexible social protection systems are in place that can respond to shocks. It recognized the crucial role of civil society in crisis response and women’s empowerment as key to tackling food insecurity. Associated announcements included:

• The UK's commitment of up to GBP100 million (US$119 million) to respond to food security crises and their impacts on the world’s hunger and malnutrition hotspots;
• The UK's commitment of GBP100 million (US$119 million) to improve climate resilience in Somalia;
• The UK's commitment of GBP77 million (US$92 million) of humanitarian support to DRC’s food security crisis;
• The UK's and other countries support to drive forward a process for unlocking International Climate Adaptation Finance for fragile and conflict-affected states;
• The UK's and other countries support developing a partnership with the World Bank to better link Humanitarian Assistance and Social Protection to collectively address food insecurity; and
• The UK’s White Paper also announced a new Resilience and Adaptation Fund to act alongside its humanitarian support.

Thematic Area 3: Building a climate-resilient and sustainable agriculture and food system.

This session focused on the need to support the transition to sustainable nutritious food plans, and systems via country, region-led and global initiatives, plans, and platforms. It also noted the need to use evidence-based approaches based on what has worked and called for more climate finance to be mobilized for agriculture, with a particular focus on supporting small-holder farmers. Associated announcements included:

• The signing by the UK and other key governments of the COP28 Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action;
• The UK's further contributions to the GAFSP;
• The UK's commitment of up to GBP45 million (US$54 million) in support over the next 5 years through the Just Rural Transition Support Program, in partnership with the World Bank
• The UK's commitment of up to GBP39.1 million (US$47 million) for the Just Transitions for Water Security Program.
  

Thematic Area 4: Harnessing science and technology for food security.

This session highlighted the importance of science and innovation in supporting food security and nutrition and called for improved accessibility to the benefits of scientific and technological advancement. It focused on the need to support sustainable scaling up of research and innovation through consistent, stable political and financial support and innovative finance models. Associated announcements included:

• The launch of the new virtual UK- CGIAR Centre for Science Collaboration and a UK commitment to provide an additional GBP45 million (US$54 million) of funding for the CGIAR, taking UK funding to a total of GBP110 million (US$132 million) for CGIAR over the next 3 years;
• The announcement of a new program focused on Scaling Agriculture Investment in Digital, AIand Innovation;
• New support to the Animal and Plant Health Innovation and Evidence Delivery Platform (GBP29 million (US$35 million)) including with CABI; and
• The creation of a new Nutritious Food Systems Policy Research Platform to grow a global network of researchers and strengthen the evidence on improving nutritional outcomes throughout the food system (GBP25 million (US$30 million).

On December 16, 2023, it was announced at COP28 that Sierra Leone, Brazil, and Norway will take the lead of a new food systems alliance.

Norwegian Minister of International Development Anne Beathe Tvinnereim called COP28 a breakthrough for food security. Tvinnereim stated that the alliance declaration on food systems is the single thematic declaration that received the largest number of signatories at the conference.

On December 6, 2023, President of Timor-Leste José Ramos Horta attended an event to announce the release of new varieties of crops created using Australian research funding.

The population of Timor-Leste has suffered from nutrition deficits due to geographic and seasonal conditions making agricultural yields unreliable. New crop varieties, including hybrid corn, common and winged beans, and red rice, were developed in conjunction with the ACIAR. The crops have already been adopted widely by smallholder farmers in Timor-Leste.

Under the Seeds for Life program, conducted over 16 years by ACIAR, a national seed system in Timor-Leste was established and 2,600 people were trained. Those trained included civil servants, farmers, and NGO staff. The program has enabled access to 19 improved varieties of high yielding seed to grow for food.