Policy Updates

On July 19, 2024, UK Foreign Minister, David Lammy, announced that the UK will resume its funding to UNWRA.

The decision was taken after the Foreign Minister confirmed to parliamentarians that he had received reassurances about the neutrality of the organization, following the UN review, published in April 2024, into Israel's allegations that there were links between UNWRA’s staff and terror groups.

The UK was one of 16 donors to stop donating to the organization in January 2024. Other donors have resumed funding, the US not among them.

On July 18, 2024, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, during the European Political Community Summit, announced that the UK would work with the 'Global South' to tackle irregular migration, committing GBP84 million (US$108 million) over the next three years to address the drivers of irregular migration in Africa and the Middle East.

The funding is slated to work to improve education and employment opportunities as well as help to build resilience to global shocks like conflict and climate change, which are two of the leading causes of irregular migration.

Funding which will come from the UK’s ODA budget includes:

• GBP13 million (US$15 million) to expand Migration for Development programs in North and East Africa;
• GBP21 million (US$25 million) in support for key host and transit countries, including Libya, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Chad provided via multilateral channels;
• GBP26 million (US$31 million) for the Middle East and the wider region to support Syrian refugees; and
• GBP24 million (US$29 million) in direct funding to support communities in Sudan, Chad, and Ethiopia.

On July 16, 2024, Publish What You Fund announced the findings of its 2024 Aid Transparency Index, which showed that the UK’s FCDO returned to the “Very Good” category for the first time since its merger with the DFID, gaining 10 points from its previous score for a total of 82.9.

While this represents a positive step, the score remains far below the 85.4 achieved by DFID in 2020. The index shows that the FCDO has improved transparency around its forward-looking and disaggregate budgets and the conditions it applies to its ODA. However, further work is still needed in disclosing the names of participating organizations as well as finance and flow funding types.

On July 16, 2024, the UK’s ICAI, the leading body responsible for assessing UK development policy and spending, published a landmark review of the UK's DHSC assistance-funded global health R&D.

The review is the first of its kind by ICAI. It provided a comprehensive overview of the UK's global health research efforts and its global impact. In 2023, DHSC’s ODA spending was the third-largest of all government departments, after the FCDO and the Home Office.

A significant share of UK health ODA is spent on research, far larger than many other DAC donors. Between 2018-2019 and 2024-2025, DHSC’s ODA spend on global health research will total almost GBP1 billion (US$1.3 billion). This funding goes to DHSC’s Global Health Research portfolio, managed by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, and a Global Health Security research and innovation portfolio, managed by DHSC.

The review was largely positive, highlighting the impact of ODA-funded global health R&D by DHSC. The research has played a crucial role in improving healthcare worldwide, addressing health challenges in developing countries, and tackling issues that are often underfunded and stigmatized. The report highlighted case studies in Malawi, India, and Brazil and confirmed the relevance of the research to local health challenges.

While the review was overall positive, it also underscored the need for more rigorous tracking of research project impacts to ensure that investments are directed towards areas with the potential for the greatest impact. Additionally, the review recommended that DHSC's ODA be untied, allowing researchers in low- and middle-income countries to choose their own global partners.

ICAI recommendations included calling for DHSC to:

• Focus research on areas with the biggest impact by improving the tracking of impact across its research portfolio and bolstering its guidance for potential applicants;
• Progressively untie its assistance for global health research, to ensure value for money and allow low- and middle-income country researchers to identify the best partners; and
• More work more closely with FCDO to strengthen UK health ODA coherence and alignment to partner country needs and priorities.

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.

Dodds 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 5, 2024, BOND, the UK platform for international development NGOs, presented five key asks of newly elected UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to ensure the UK regains global leadership on international development.

BOND called for Starmer and the Labour government to:

• Turn up to big global summits: BOND called for the UK Prime Minister to reengage at important global summits. BOND highlights how the former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak failed to attend the UN SDG progress summit, France’s Sustainable Financing Summit, or the US' Global Fund replenishment. The first one they call on Starmer to attend is the UN Summit of the Future;
• Get serious about financing development: BOND highlighted that this meant not only returning the UK ODA budget to 0.7% ODA/GNI but also reducing ODA spending on IDRCs, which made up around a third of the UK ODA budget in previous years. BOND also named addressing MDB reform and debt relief to ensure greater financing is available for developing countries as key;
• Drive forward local leadership of development efforts: BOND noted that its members have worked hard to empower local leadership and called for the Labour government to provide more long-term flexible funding for local organizations;
• Improve collaboration with civil society and ensure civic space: This includes improving consultation and collaboration with CSOs; and
• Deliver on the SDGs using a whole-of-government approach, working across trade, finance, security, migration, and energy.

On July 4, 2024, the Labour Party was voted into power in a landslide UK general election victory, winning 412 parliamentary seats for a majority of 174, enabling Labour to pass its legislative agenda.

The Labour Party outlined its five key missions as:

• Kickstarting economic growth;
• Making Britain a clean energy superpower;
• Halving serious violent crime;
• Breaking down barriers to opportunity by reforming childcare and the education system; and
• Building an NHS fit for the future.

While Labour gained a majority in parliament seats, its vote share was low at 34%, indicating a that support is not as profound as previously hoped for.

Newly elected UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has noted that he intends to run a government of service and duty, not one of drama and performance.

The election saw the Conservative Party face its worst performance in history, with only 121 parliamentary seats won. The Liberal Democrats gained their highest number of seats since 1923 at 72 seats. The Reform Party, with its strong anti-immigrant focus, entered Parliament for the first time after winning five seats. The Green Party also had its best-ever election outcome, winning four seats in Parliament.

On July 5, 2024, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer appointed David Lammy as the UK’s new foreign secretary.

Lammy is set to adopt a progressive realism approach to foreign policy and to focus on reconnecting Britain to the rest of the world to ensure UK security and prosperity. He noted a desire to reset the relationship with development partners, based on genuine respect and partnership.

Lammy’s first trip abroad as the UK’s Foreign Minister was to visit key European countries, including Germany, Sweden, and Poland. Lammy noted that he intends to drive forward an ambitious and broad-ranging UK - EU Security Pact, where the UK will work more closely with its European partners to tackle security issues like Ukraine. When Lammy was pressed on whether security cooperation with the EU could extend to issues such as pandemics, decarbonization, access to critical minerals and illegal migration, he stated that he thought it could.

Lammy accepted an invitation by Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell to attend an October meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, an invitation previously rejected by the Conservative government.

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.

On June 14, 2024, the second day of the G7 Summit, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced nearly CAD687 million (US$501 million) to strengthen sustainable agricultural, climate resiliency, and foster gender equality in low- and middle-income countries.

Within the funding was CAD200 million (US$146 million) to IFAD, including:

• CAD100 million (US$73 million) to reduce poverty and food insecurity while strengthening climate resilience, with a focus on poor, vulnerable, and rural communities; and
• CAD100 million (US$73 million) as a repayable contribution to IFAD’s Private Sector Financing Programme to support investments in the agricultural sector in low- and middle-income countries, especially in the Americas, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia.

Canada also announced new funding for the Indo-Pacific region, which is home to the largest number of climate-vulnerable people in the world. Funding included:

• CAD360 million (US$262 million) in repayable contributions to the ADB to establish the Canadian Climate and Nature Fund for the Private Sector in Asia to mobilize private capital toward inclusive climate change mitigation and adaptation projects; and
• CAD7 million (US$5 million) through the IDRC to build on Canada’s existing partnership with the UK to expand the IDRC’s AI for Development program for responsible AI innovation and capacity building in the Indo-Pacific.

Lastly, Canada announced new funding to advance gender equality and the empowerment of women, girls, and LGBTQI+ people, including:

• CAD100 million (US$73 million) in the International Finance Corporation’s Facility for Gender Equality, Resilience, Opportunity, and Inclusion Worldwide, which is expected to mobilize an estimated CAD470 million (US$342 million) in private capital for investments that empower women and promote gender inclusion; and
• CAD20 million (US$15 million) to TradeMark Africa and the Centre for International Studies and Cooperation to help eliminate the gender-based barriers that prevent women from fully participating in opportunities afforded by the African Continental Free Trade Area.