Policy Updates

On September 29, 2024, the EC announced EUR10 million (US$11 million) in additional humanitarian assistance to help people in Lebanon and support the most urgent needs such as protection, food assistance, shelter and health care.

This announcement brings the overall amount of the EU’s humanitarian assistance to Lebanon in 2024 to EUR74 million (US$81 million).

On September 28th, 2024, the EC President von der Leyen announced EUR260 million (US$290 million) in 2026-2027 for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance at the Global Citizen Festival 2024 in New York City.

The President announced that the EU will reach Gavi’s objective to vaccinate 500 million children by 2030 under the 2026-2030 Strategic Period. The EC promised to remain committed to a high level of ambition in supporting Gavi when designing its proposal for the next long-term EU budget, the MFF which will cover EU spending beyond 2027.

CSOs Global Citizen, ONE, Save the Children, and Global Health Advocates applauded President von der Leyen’s announcement and efforts to ensure equitable access to vaccines for children around the world and the intention to increase support to Gavi from the next MFF.

President von der Leyen also pledged EUR213 million (US$ 240 million) in additional humanitarian assistance for Africa, Afghanistan, Palestinians and Venezuela.

Pending the approval of the European Parliament and Council of the EU, the funding will be split as follows:

• EUR41 million (US$45 million) for Africa, targeting food insecurity;
• EUR69 million (US$ 76 million) for the Sudan crisis and its spillover effects on neighboring countries;
• EUR40 million (US$44 million) for food insecurity in Afghanistan; and
• EUR45 million (US$49 million) for Palestinians and EUR18 million (US$19 million) for Venezuela.

On September 26, 2024, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides made AMR issues a key focus of her mission to the UNGA.

She delivered a speech at the UNGA High-Level meeting on AMR, where she highlighted that the declaration is a call to translate commitments into actions and results. She announced the EU’s support for the establishment of an independent panel for evidence-based action against AMR. She also announced that the EU allocated US$3 million in 2025 to support the panel to gather and consolidate data on AMR and provide guidance to policymakers worldwide.

The European Commission also welcomed the Political Declaration to step up action against AMR. The declaration was agreed to at the High-Level ministerial meeting at the UNGA. The EU, as well as its Member States, have committed to measures tackling AMR, such as improved prevention, surveillance, monitoring, financing, access, innovation and awareness-raising.

In addition, the Commissioner spoke at a number of events such as ‘The Infection Prevention and Control and Antimicrobial Stewardship: from policy to implementation at the point of care'. She highlighted the impact AMR has in Europe, as well as the EU’s efforts to curb it, such as the launch of the European Partnership on One Health AMR next year. The Commissioner also highlighted the EU’s commitment to support health systems in low- and middle-income countries, including preparedness and prevention.

The Commission also launched a new campaign ‘Beat the Bug’ to raise awareness among its citizens about the risks of AMR.

On September 30, 2024, JICA submitted its budget request for the 2025 fiscal year, aligned with its vision of Leading the World with Trust and focusing on human security and quality growth.

The budget proposal, based on Japan’s 2024 economic and fiscal policies, includes key priorities such as upholding a free and open international order, advancing international cooperation, promoting economic diplomacy, and enhancing efforts in the information age.

A total of JPY152.1 billion (US$1.1 billion) was requested for JICA operating and facility costs, an increase of JPY4 billion (US$28 million) from the previous year. This includes JPY150.5 billion (US$1 billion) for operating expenses and JPY1.7 billion (US$12 million) for facility maintenance.

JICA also requested JPY2.31 trillion (US$16.1 billion) for loan assistance projects, up by JPY300 billion (US$2.1 billion), to focus on supporting quality growth in low- and middle-income countries and addressing global challenges related to the 2030 Agenda and UN SDGs.

On September 28, 2024, Canadian Minister of International Development Ahmed Hussen announced that Canada will provide CAD10 million (US$7.4 million) in funding for humanitarian needs in Lebanon.

The funds will go towards providing food, water, emergency healthcare including sexual and reproductive health, protection services and other life-saving assistance to civilians in Lebanon. It comes as a response to the recent escalation of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which has increased the need for humanitarian aid in the region.

This funding is in addition to Canada's contribution to the UN CERF, which previously allocated US$10 million in response to the crisis in Lebanon. According to official reports, more than 90,000 people were displaced within Lebanon in September.

On September 27, 2023, Norway announced a contribution of over NOK22 million (US$2 million) in emergency humanitarian assistance to the flood victims in South Sudan.

According to Minister of International Development Anne Beathe Kristiansen Tvinnereim, South Sudan is grappling with severe flooding along the White Nile and its tributaries, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian situation. Communities are still reeling from previous floods between 2019 and 2022, and over 1 million people have already been displaced.

Norway's contribution included NOK10 million (US$900 000) to the UN’s country fund for South Sudan and NOK12 million (US$1.1 million) to the Norwegian Refugee Council. These funds will be used to provide critical health services, shelter, food, clean water, and sanitation for those affected. Additionally, Norway has also contributed to the UN's CERF.

This support comes as part of Norway’s broader humanitarian commitment to South Sudan, which totals over NOK91 million (US$8.3 million) in 2024. The funding is distributed through Norwegian organizations such as the Norwegian Refugee Council, Norwegian Church Aid, Norwegian People's Aid, Caritas, and the Norwegian Red Cross, as well as through UN humanitarian funds.

On September 27, 2024, The UK government released its final ODA statistics. The statistics show that the UK ODA budget rose by 20% between 2022 and 2023 to reach GBP15. 3 billion (US$ 18.3 billion), 0.58% of GNI.

A large share of UK ODA was spent on housing refugees inside the UK, with GBP4.3 billion (US$5.2 billion) or 28% of the UK ODA budget in 2023. The statistics also show that there was a significant increase in the share of UK ODA spent via multilateral organizations which rose from GBP3.1 billion (US$3.7 billion) in 2022 to GBP5.4 billion (US$6.5 billion) in 2024, predominately due to a large payment to the World Bank’s IDA.

UK bilateral ODA spend was GBP10 billion (US$12 billion), 65% of total UK ODA, and UK core funding to multilateral organizations was GBP5.3 billion (US$6.4 billion), 35% of total UK ODA.

In terms of top bilateral sectors, the largest amount of funding was spent on ‘Refugees in Donor Countries’ in 2023, followed by the humanitarian sector’ and ‘Multisector/ Cross-cutting’ sector.

In terms of geographic disbursements, Africa increased its share of region-specific bilateral ODA moving to 46% (up from 42%) but the volume of funding fell marginally. The top three recipients of UK country specific bilateral ODA were Ukraine (GBP 250 million/US$299 million), Ethiopia (GBP164 million/US$196 million), and Afghanistan (GBP115 million/US$137 million).

The overall increase in ODA, however, masked some significant decreases. The share of bilateral ODA received by LDCs has fallen to 47.2% in 2023 compared to 53% in 2018. Bilateral ODA to health, humanitarian, education, and water and sanitation also saw steep declines.

• Humanitarian ODA stood at GBP878 million (US$1 billion) in 2023, a fall of 21% compared to 2022, 43% since 2020 and its lowest level since 2014;
• Health ODA stood at GBP764 million (US$843 million) in 2023, a fall of 21% compared to 2022, 52% since 2020 and its lowest level since 2014;
• Education ODA stood at GBP346 million (US$414 million) in 2023, a marginal decrease compared to 2022, but a decrease of 64% since 2016 and its lowest level since 2009; and
• WASH fell to just GBP38 million (US$45 million), a decrease of 17% compared to 2020, 82% since 2018 and its lowest level since 2009.

On 26 September 2024, one of the UK Conservative party leadership candidates Robert Jenrick vowed to cut ODA to countries that did not take back refused asylum seekers.

Jenrick is one of four potential Conservative Party leadership candidates who are currently making their case to Conservative Party members for why they should be elected the new leader of the Conservative Party.

Jenrick, formerly the Minister for Immigration in the last Conservative government, said that he would cut off ODA from countries that do not take back people who fail in their asylum claims, as part of a package of measures designed to increase the number of people being deported by 100,000 a year.

On September 26, 2024, Foreign Minister Kamikawa outlined Japan's commitment to the WPS agenda at the WPS Focal Points Network High-Level Side Event in New York.

Kamikawa emphasized that WPS is a key pillar of Japan’s foreign policy and highlighted three key areas of progress: the establishment of a cross-organizational task force to enhance cooperation, the integration of WPS into foreign policy through over 150 diplomatic engagements, and the launch of the WPS and Innovation Policy Forum to strengthen international networks.

Kamikawa acknowledged the significance of the WPS Focal Points Network in fostering global cooperation and sharing best practices. She announced Japan’s intention, along with Norway, to co-chair the WPS Focal Points Network in 2025, coinciding with the 25^th anniversary of UNSC Resolution 1325. Japan will host the Capital-Level Meeting in Tokyo from February 4-6, 2025.

Finally, she emphasized the urgency of advancing WPS in light of ongoing conflicts, such as in Ukraine and Gaza, and highlighted the need to expand women's roles in peace-building, disaster risk reduction, and ensure action plans turn ideas into concrete measures. Japan aims to strengthen international solidarity and accelerate WPS activities in the coming years.

On 26 September 2024, the Federal Foreign Office (AA) published its new Strategy on Humanitarian Aid Abroad. The strategy was published in the context of severe cuts to humanitarian funding in the draft budget for 2025, with humanitarian assistance cut by almost 50%.

The new strategy puts forth three high-level priorities:

• Enabling access to populations in need through humanitarian diplomacy;
• Increasing the efficiency, effectiveness, localization, forward-looking perspective, and gender and inclusion-sensitivity of aid; and
• Ensuring that assistance is needs-based, prioritizes the greatest suffering, and is flexible.

The strategy referenced several targets, including some that have been set out in other strategic documents. This includes the target to achieve 100% of funding for gender-sensitive projects, 25% of funding for international NGOs, 25% of funding channeled through at most one intermediary to increase the role of local partners, and 30% of funding that can be allocated flexibly.

In the context of the severe cuts to ODA, the strategy puts strong emphasis on the efficiency of funding, ensuring that the funds prioritize the greatest needs based on assessment and compatibility with other funders.