by Rachel Cantlow
Earlier this month, the current government released its budget for the April 2021 tax year. As part of the budget, it was announced that the Conservative government plan to cut UK Foreign Aid by around £4bn. The plans include reducing international aid both directly and to multilateral organisations in the coming year. Despite laws in place regarding the UK commitment to Overseas Development Assistance (ODA), a similar announcement came later last year that Britain plans to lower the contribution of ODA from 0.7% of the Gross National Income (GNI) to 0.5% for 2021-2022.
Most notably, the countries to see the biggest losses are those experiencing war and
conflict, including Sahel (-93%), Syria (-67%), Somalia, Libya (-63%) and South Sudan.
Unsurprisingly, the reductions in aid to these already devastated countries faces criticism, with the 54% reduction to aid for Yemen causing the most outcry. The country is currently suffering from the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with 80% of the population reliant on aid, yet Britain reduces aid and continues to sell arms to Saudi Arabia for use in Yemen.
It is clear that these cuts will leave millions more vulnerable to poverty,
famine, illness, disease and violence, and will have a detrimental impact on development programmes currently running in these countries.
Unfortunately, these cuts follow a trend by the current government to dismiss the
importance of international aid and its benefits to the UK. For instance, the government has collapsed the Department for International Development and placed the department within the foreign office, which limits the resources given to issues specifically concerning international development.
The justification made by the government is simple: COVID-19. With a 9.9% fall in the economy, the accumulation of a staggering amount of debt, and continued disruption, the government stand by their claim that the UK is ‘doing its bit’ in the difficult financial circumstances it faces. However, a vote must be held in the commons if the government want to reduce the GNI contribution to 0.5% lawfully, providing an opportunity for MPs to express their opinions on the matter. There is hope that this will be voted against. Unfortunately, MPs do not currently have the option to vote on direct international aid contributions as they are not written into law.
Currently, OpenDemocracy have a petition open to call for PM Boris Johnson to allow MPs to vote on the proposed foreign aid cuts. You can find the link here to sign the petition.
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