Humanitarian Aid

(asked on 30th November 2020) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the reduction in the Official Development Assistance budget (a) from 0.7 per cent to 0.5 per cent and (b) as a result of the UK’s decreased GDP on the Government’s support for humanitarian assistance programmes.


Answered by
James Cleverly Portrait
James Cleverly
Home Secretary
This question was answered on 8th December 2020

The seismic impact of the pandemic on the UK economy has forced us to take tough but necessary decisions. We have concluded after extensive consideration, and with regret, that we cannot for the moment meet our target of spending 0.7% of Gross National Income on ODA. However, the Foreign Secretary has been clear, we will remain a world leading aid donor spending 0.5% of GNI and continue to respond humanitarian crises and protecting those in need. By combining aid with diplomacy and ensuing a coherent approach across Government departments, we will be focusing our efforts where the UK can make a world-leading difference to deliver maximum impact for every pound we spend.

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