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June 20, 2024 | UK, France, Spain, US, Global Health R&D, Global Health | Share this update
On June 20, 2024, UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron attended the Gavi Investment Opportunity and AVMA launch in Paris, France, and pledged to reallocate GBP49 million (US$58 million) to Gavi’s newly launched AVMA through reallocated COVID-19 funding already committed to Gavi.
Co-hosted by Gavi, the African Union, and France, the event saw Gavi lay out its investment case for 2026 and 2030 and call for US$9 billion in new donor funding.
The UK did not make an early pledge to Gavi’s new replenishment, unlike the US, France, Spain, and some philanthropic providers, which committed a total of US$2.4 billion. Gavi is set to engage in an intense period of fundraising with a view to hosting a final pledging event in 7 to 12 months.
Since the creation of Gavi, the UK has invested GBP5.5 billion (US$7 billion) in the organization, helping to vaccinate over a billion children and save millions of lives.
The UK did not provide an early pledge to Gavi's 2026-2030 replenishment.
June 11, 2024 | UK, Nutritious Food Systems, Gender Equality, Agricultural R&D, Family Planning, Climate, Global Health | Share this update
On June 11 and 13, 2024, the UK Conservative and Labour parties released their election manifestos, containing limited references to international development, ahead of the national election on July 4, 2024.
International development did not feature prominently in either manifesto, instead being overshadowed by domestic affairs.
The manifestos showed both stark differences and intriguing similarities on the subject of international development. Both parties committing to maintain the merger of the FCO and former DFID into the FCDO. Labour committed to strengthening the development function within the FCDO. Both parties also committed to a return to providing 0.7% ODA/GNI, but only when the fiscal circumstances allow.
The Conservative Party’s manifesto committed the party to:
The Labour Party focused on modernizing UK development assistance and committed to:
May 25, 2024 | UK, France, Canada, Japan, US, Italy, Germany, EUI, Global Health, Climate, Education, Agriculture, Gender Equality, Nutritious Food Systems | Share this update
On May 23-25, 2024, the G7 Ministers of Finance met at a summit in Stresa, Italy, where the ministers voiced support for contributions to the IDA, WHO, Gavi, and the Global Fund in the resulting communiqué.
The G7 ministers supported efforts towards a successful 21st replenishment of the IDA by the end of 2024 through an ambitious policy and financing package. Notably, they did not give a concrete signal that the critical US$100 billion threshold requested by the World Bank will be crossed, nor any indication of the US$120 billion expected by African leaders.
The ministers reaffirmed their dedication to strengthening the governance and finance of the global health architecture and voiced support for refinancing processes of several GHIs, such as Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the WHO, and the Global Fund, and expressed support for the Pandemic Fund. The communiqué called on the donor community to coordinate efforts and increase investments in global health in line with their capacities to ensure sustainable funding and maximize the impact of available resources.
Following the summit, the C7 pointed out the G7's lack of ambition and financial commitment to international development, including climate adaptation. International civil society organizations criticized the lack of any reference to allocating SDRs to global solidarity.
May 16, 2024 | UK, Nutrition, Education, Agriculture, Gender Equality, Agricultural R&D, Nutritious Food Systems, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health, Family Planning, WASH & Sanitation, International development, Climate, Global Health R&D, Global Health, Security policy | Share this update
On May 16, 2024, international NGO Christian Aid released a new report, titled Between Life and Debt, that outlined the devastating debt crisis engulfing Africa and calling on the UK government to address the crisis through legal intervention.
The report, which draws on testimonies from Christian Aid partners in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria and Zambia, revealed that:
The report asserted that the debt problem is largely due to Western private lenders, who have lent to Africa at extremely high interest rates, far higher than other sovereign lenders like China. Total external debt service by all African countries to private creditors was US$39 billion in 2023 and US$47 billion in 2024, and that private creditors charge the highest interest rates of 6.2%.
Christian Aid argued that the UK government has the unique power to help remedy the crisis, given that most private creditors, due to colonial history, are governed by British law. The organization called on the UK to step up and take action to change UK law to compel private creditors to cancel debts and stop the crisis.
May 16, 2024 | UK, Global Health R&D, Global Health | Share this update
On May 16, 2024, the UK government announced an additional GBP85 million (US$102 million) to tackle AMR, focusing on supporting initiatives in Africa and the Caribbean.
The pledge was made at the Royal Society’s international event calling for action on AMR. The event was attended by the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt and His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales.
The funding built on the UK's recently updated AMR strategy and previous commitments. It is slated to provide the following:
The projects build on ongoing international and domestic work to prevent the spread of AMR. This includes the recently announced national action plan and a partnership through the Fleming Fund, backed by GBP210 million (US$251 million), with countries across Asia and Africa to tackle AMR and reduce the threat posed to the UK.
May 15, 2024 | UK, Nutrition, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health, WASH & Sanitation, Global Health | Share this update
On May 15, 2024, UK Foreign Minister David Cameron met with Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak and announced that the UK would increase its humanitarian assistance to Yemen by 58% from 2024 to 2025, for a total of GBP139 million (US$166 million), to alleviate the worsening humanitarian crisis.
The funding will mainly be delivered through critical partners like WFP and UNICEF and is aimed at supporting primary healthcare, including child vaccinations and vital nutrition interventions.
Over half the population of Yemen is dependent on humanitarian assistance. Since 2015, the UK has provided more than GBP1 billion (US$1.2 billion) in assistance to Yemen.
May 15, 2024 | Italy, Germany, EUI, Japan, Canada, US, France, UK, Education, Agriculture, Gender Equality, Nutritious Food Systems, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health, Family Planning, WASH & Sanitation, Climate, Global Health | Share this update
On May 14-15, 2024, the C7 summit was held at the UN FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy, organized by the Italian Civil Society Coalition that led, coordinated, and moderated the C7 2024 process.
Approximately 400 global representatives took part in the event, as well as international decision-makers, including FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu, Italian G7 sherpa Ambassador Elisabetta Belloni, Cardinal, President of the Italian Episcopal Conference, Pope’s envoy for the Russian-Ukrainian conflict Matteo Maria Zuppi, and Director of the UN SDG Action Campaign Marina Ponti.
The official C7 communiqué that listed the international civil society recommendation to the G7’s Leaders around seven key issues was released at the event, which included:
May 9, 2024 | UK, Climate, Global Health, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health | Share this update
On May 9, 2024, UK Foreign Minister David Cameron spoke on UK foreign policy at the National Cyber Security Unit, where he highlighted that UK foreign policy is linked with ensuring the domestic prosperity and security and the UK's place in the world, noting that the UK is both large enough to make a significant impact but small enough to act nimbly and quickly when needed.
Cameron noted that the top priority for the UK is ensuring both British and global security, reiterating the UK government’s commitment to spend 2.5% of GDP on defense by 2030 and committing 5% of the spending to defense R&D.
Cameron went on to note that a close second priority was standing up for British values of freedom, human dignity and human rights and supporting the multilateral system that upholds these values. He highlighted how much more funding the UK provides to tackling malaria via the Global Fund than Iran, and how much more the UK spends than Russia on funding the UN Central Emergency Fund for humanitarian disasters. Cameron also emphasized the UK's generosity as a donor to the GCF to support oceans and biodiversity.
Cameron expressed pride in the UK’s recent International White Paper and its drive to support the UN SDGs, reform MDBs, and enhance cooperation with the private sector.
May 8, 2024 | UK, Global Health R&D, Global Health | Share this update
On May 8, 2024, the UK released its new 5-year national plan, covering the period of 2024-2029, for tackling AMR in animals and humans.
The new strategy set out nine key goals under four key - themes:
May 2, 2024 | UK, Nutrition, Education, Agriculture, Gender Equality, Agricultural R&D, Nutritious Food Systems, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health, Family Planning, WASH & Sanitation, International development, Climate, Global Health R&D, Global Health, Security policy | Share this update
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.
US$ amounts are cited directly from sources; in the absence of an official conversion, they are calculated using the previous week's average of the US Federal Reserve's daily exchange rates.
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