Official Development Assistance

Baroness Goudie Excerpts

Tuesday 13th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Goudie (Lab)]

My Lords, overseas development assistance is often discussed in terms of percentages, ceilings and fiscal headroom. But on the ground, it looks very different: it looks like a clinic that is no longer open three days a week, a nutrition programme that quietly stops enrolling new children or a women’s safe space that closes because funding has ended.

Since the reduction of UK aid from 0.7% to 0.5% of GNI, the cumulative effect of cuts has been profound. The Independent Commission for Aid Impact has documented programmes being scaled back or closed altogether, often with little notice to implementing partners or affected communities. These decisions are not neutral; they have humanitarian consequences.

We are living through a moment of unprecedented global need. The United Nations estimates that more than 300 million people now require humanitarian assistance worldwide—the highest number ever recorded —driven by conflict, climate disasters and economic shocks. Over half of them are women and children. At the same time, humanitarian response plans are chronically underfunded, often receiving less than 40% of what is required.

As we have little time, I will just say that aid is not charity; it is an investment in stability, dignity and shared security. When we reduce it without care, we do not eliminate need; we deepen it. I hope that the Government will reflect carefully on the humanitarian impacts of both actual and planned reductions in ODA, and place the protection of the most vulnerable back at the centre of our approach.

In particular, as my noble friend Lord McConnell said, during this difficult period, we need to implement more money to tackle sexual violence in conflict. We should work to help communities build peace, and to do that we have to have women on the ground, with children. Women also have to be at the peace table. This should be very much part of our international aid and we should not be cutting aid at this difficult time.