Asked by: Lord Bates (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the planned reduction in spending on official development assistance from 0.5 per cent of gross national income to 0.3 per cent.
Answered by Lord Wood of Anfield - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is prioritising Official Development Assistance (ODA) where humanitarian needs are most acute - to reach those in greatest need and reduce the harm caused by violence and atrocities, including in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan. With greater instability, humanitarian need growing, and poverty becoming more concentrated in places affected by conflict, we are increasing the proportion of spending in fragile and conflict affected states by around 13 percentage points to over 70 per cent of all FCDO country and regional spending by 2028/29, and will spend £1.4 billion per year in countries with the most humanitarian need over this Spending Review period. With this support, we want to see increased allocation of humanitarian resources to cost-effective, localised delivery mechanisms; and a more streamlined, prioritised and efficient multilateral humanitarian system.
Asked by: Lord Bates (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the reduction in bilateral official development assistance to countries experiencing prolonged humanitarian crises.
Answered by Lord Wood of Anfield - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is prioritising Official Development Assistance (ODA) where humanitarian needs are most acute - to reach those in greatest need and reduce the harm caused by violence and atrocities, including in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan. With greater instability, humanitarian need growing, and poverty becoming more concentrated in places affected by conflict, we are increasing the proportion of spending in fragile and conflict affected states by around 13 percentage points to over 70 per cent of all FCDO country and regional spending by 2028/29, and will spend £1.4 billion per year in countries with the most humanitarian need over this Spending Review period. With this support, we want to see increased allocation of humanitarian resources to cost-effective, localised delivery mechanisms; and a more streamlined, prioritised and efficient multilateral humanitarian system.
Asked by: Lord Bates (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what their priorities are for humanitarian interventions to support fragile and conflict affected states.
Answered by Lord Wood of Anfield - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is prioritising Official Development Assistance (ODA) where humanitarian needs are most acute - to reach those in greatest need and reduce the harm caused by violence and atrocities, including in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan. With greater instability, humanitarian need growing, and poverty becoming more concentrated in places affected by conflict, we are increasing the proportion of spending in fragile and conflict affected states by around 13 percentage points to over 70 per cent of all FCDO country and regional spending by 2028/29, and will spend £1.4 billion per year in countries with the most humanitarian need over this Spending Review period. With this support, we want to see increased allocation of humanitarian resources to cost-effective, localised delivery mechanisms; and a more streamlined, prioritised and efficient multilateral humanitarian system.
Asked by: Lord Bates (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the current UK contribution to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Sudan humanitarian needs action plan.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington
The UK is providing £146 million in aid to Sudan this financial year (FY26/27), providing life-saving assistance to nearly 2 million people affected by the conflict. The UN's 'Sudan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan 2026' provides an overall assessment of humanitarian needs throughout the country with details of financial requirements across 12 sectors (education, health, nutrition, emergency shelter etc.) All of the UK's humanitarian funding to Sudan in FY 26/27 is targeted at needs identified by the UN in its Sudan response plan. UK funding is provided to a range of partners - UN and non-UN - who are working to alleviate suffering in Sudan, including local responders operating in the hardest to reach areas.
Asked by: Lord Bates (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Chapman of Darlington on 23 February (HLWS1349), how much Official Development Assistance will be allocated to (1) the Media Freedom Coalition, and (2) the Public Interest Media and Healthy Information Environments programme, in (a) 2026–27, (b) 2027–28, and (c) 2028–29.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington
I refer the Noble Lord to the statements made by the Foreign Secretary and myself - UIN HLWS1431 - on 19 March outlining the UK's Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocations for the period up to 2028-29, and to the accompanying documents setting out the detail of those allocations. Funding for specific organisations over the period in question will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Lord Bates (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the prime beneficiaries of UK aid are women and children.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington
The UK is committed to putting women and girls at the heart of everything we do, including our development spending. The Foreign Secretary recently announced that women and girls will be a central theme across all the FCDO's work - including development. She also announced a new target that at least 90 per cent of our bilateral Official Development Assistance programmes will have a focus on women and girls by 2030.
Asked by: Lord Bates (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what contribution from the UK aid budget they intend to make to the Global Humanitarian Overview 2026 Appeal launched by the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington
I refer the Hon Member to the statement made to the House by the Foreign Secretary on 19 March outlining the UK's Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocations for the period up to 2028-29, HLWS1431, and the accompanying documentation setting out the impact of those allocation decisions. I also refer him to the evidence provided by the Foreign Secretary and I to the International Development Committee on 24 March, where we addressed questions at length about the Government's ODA policies and allocation decision: https://committees.parliament.uk/event/26907/formal-meeting-oral-evidence-session/.
Asked by: Lord Bates (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the UN review Humanitarian Reset: Putting the People We Serve First, published on 10 March 2025; and what plans they have in light of that review to improve the (1) speed, (2) accountability and (3) impact of the UK's official development assistance system.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington
We strongly support the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator's plans, set out in his 11 March letter, to regroup, reform and renew the humanitarian system. We want to see a more localised, prioritised, efficient and effective humanitarian system. We are continually looking to improve the effectiveness of our official development assistance programmes.
Asked by: Lord Bates (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much Official Development Assistance they contributed to the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement in (1) 2023, (2) 2024, and (3) 2025.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington
The table below shows UK ODA funding in 2023 and 2024 provided to the International Committee of the Red Cross, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The figures do not capture funding to Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement organisations where they are a partner further down the delivery chain.
Organisation | 2023 £ thousand | 2024 £ thousand |
International Committee of the Red Cross | 130.2 | 176.6 |
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies | 17.7 | 17.6 |
National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies | 0 | 4.7 |
Total | 147.9 | 198.9 |
Figures for 2025 will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Bates (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to announce the 2026 Official Development Assistance budget allocations; and whether they will make the announcement by means of an oral statement to both Houses.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington
The allocations in question will be set out in the coming months, and we will confirm details of that planned announcement in the normal way in due course.