Policy Updates

On April 15, 2024, Canadian Minister of International Development Ahmed Hussen participated in the International Humanitarian Conference for Sudan and its Neighbours, where he announced CAD132million (US$96 million) in international assistance funding to Sudan and neighbouring Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.

The announcement included nearly CAD101 million (US$73 million) in humanitarian assistance and nearly CAD32 million (US$23 million) in development assistance amid the ongoing armed conflict in Sudan. The funding is slated to provide crisis-affected people with emergency health services, food and nutrition assistance, protection services for gender-based violence survivors, and other assistance including shelter, water, and sanitation services. The development assistance will support critical programming in SRHR and education infrastructure.

On April 15, 2024, USAID announced a new US government-wide strategy on international basic education, bringing together ten US government entities to reaffirm its commitment to an inclusive and quality education worldwide.

The strategy spans from 2024-2029 and is intended to expand the reach of the previous strategy, particularly for those most marginalized. It stated the intent to learn from the lessons of COVID-19 and make educational systems more resilient and inclusive. The strategy will implement four approaches, including local ownership, capacity strengthening, equity and inclusion, and data based decision-making.

On April 11, 2024, the US announced that it will provide an additional US$25 million in assistance to refugees in the Uganda. The resources from both the Department of State and USAID will go to the UN High Commission on Refugees and the WFP.

The resources will be used to support food, health care, and education, as well as other emergency support to refugees whom have fled South Sudan, the DRC, Somalia, and Sudan. The US noted that Uganda has the highest number of refugees in Africa, having received more than 130,000 refugees in 2023.

The US separately called out a 2024 ruling of the Ugandan court, which had upheld a controversial anti-homosexual law, stating that the US was committed to ensuring that all assistance would be delivered without discrimination.

In advance of the Paris International Humanitarian Conference for Sudan and it Neighbors, Power also announced an additional US$100 million in emergency assistance for the 25 million people who have been affected by the civil war in Sudan. Five million people are close to famine and eight million have been displaced. USAID also called out the violence being perpetrated on the people of Sudan by both sides of the armed conflict. The emergency assistance will include food, nutrition, and other services. This brings total US humanitarian assistance for Sudan to over US$1 billion.

On April 12, 2024, it was announced that South Korea was elected to the Executive Boards of UNICEF and the WFP for the 2025-2027 term.

The WFP Executive Board provides policy guidance and oversees all activities as the highest decision-making body. South Korea’s third consecutive election to the WFP Executive Board since 2019 reflects its role and contribution to reducing poverty and ending hunger around the world.

South Korea's election to the Executive Board of UNICEF for 2025-2027 marked its tenth consecutive nomination since 1988. The South Korean government will continue to proactively participate in discussions within UNICEF to advance the protection, health, and education of children and adolescents around the world. The government is also slated to further develop the partnership between South Korea and UNICEF.

On April 11, 2024, the European Commission and the Belgian Council Presidency hosted the Global Gateway High-Level Event on Education.

Grounded in EU pledges from the 2022 TES, the program prioritized green and digital learning, teaching quality, and finance for education among others. Notably, FLN, one of the key foci of the 2022 TES, did not feature in the agenda.

In addition to high-level meetings and discussions, the event included EUR245 million (US$264 million) several pledges from the EU, including:

• EUR110 million (US$119 million) for implementation of Zambia's National Development Plan and Free Education Initiative, which aim to improve quality of early, primary, and secondary education and increase the attendance and completion rates of girls in school;
• EUR75 million (US$81 million) co-financed by the EU and Team Europe for employment-related skills and vocational training with a focus on women and girls' education in SSA. Specific partner countries were not named;
• EUR15 million (US$16 million) and EUR27 million (US$29 million) were allocated to youth mobility projects with a focus on EU-Africa mobility and intra-African mobility and green skills, respectively; and
• EUR18 million (US$20 million) for building research capacity related to medicines and vaccines in Nigeria.

On March 28, 2024, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs committed EUR50 million (US$54 million) for the launch of PROSPECTS 2.0 in Kenya to promote socio-economic integration between refugees and host communities in Kakuma, Kalobeyei, Dabaab, and urban areas.

The project marks phase 2, spanning from 2024-2027, of the original PROSPECTS Partnership initiated by the Netherlands in 2019. According to the International Finance Corporation Africa, PROSPECTS 2 will focus on four key areas:

• Education and learning;
• Economic inclusion;
• Child protection and social protection; and
• Critical infrastructure.

This partnership involves partners from the humanitarian, development, and private sectors, including the World Bank, UNHCR, UNRWA, UNICEF, ILO, the Government of Kenya’s Ministry of Interior and National Administration, and the County Governments of Turkana and Garissa.

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 25, 2024, it was announced that the BMZ and AA are providing an additional US$49 million to UNRWA for its work in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the West Bank

The BMZ has earmarked US$24 million to aid Palestinian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon. Among these funds, US$16 million will be allocated to bolster essential health and educational services for Palestinian refugees in both countries, while an additional US$8 million will support the "Cash for Work" initiative benefiting Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Concurrently, the AA committed US$25 million to provide assistance to Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, along with delivering crucial food assistance in the West Bank.

The financial pledges form part of Germany's ongoing commitment to provide regional support to the UNRWA. The German government underscored that decisions regarding the continuation of its support for UNRWA operations in Gaza will be contingent upon the progress of ongoing review and investigation procedures.

On March 25, 2024, Canada’s Minister of International Development Ahmed Hussen announced CAD25 million (US$18 million) in funding for Canada’s International Youth Internship Program.

The program allows youth ages 18 to 30 years, especially those who identify as Indigenous, racialized, 2SLGBTQI+, or living with disabilities, to be paired with organizations in LICs and LMICs to work in sectors such as education, social services, human rights, agriculture, aquaculture, and more.

The program has been operating for over 25 years and allows youth to gain skills and experience in the field of international development. The new funding will run from 2023 to 2028 and allow more than 800 eligible youth to complete internships in over 40 LICs and LMICs.

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.