Africa: Overseas Aid

(asked on 12th April 2021) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to (1) maintain, or (2) increase the level of funding in 2021/2022 for (a) parliamentary strengthening, and (b) promoting pluralism in Africa; and what plans they have to (i) maintain, or (ii) increase this funding through the Westminster Foundation for Democracy in 2021/2022.


Answered by
 Portrait
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This question was answered on 26th April 2021

As outlined in the recently-published Integrated Review, the UK will support strong, transparent and accountable political processes and institutions overseas. The Government will continue to use its development budget to champion and strengthen democratic institutions, human rights, free media and effective governance. Supporting open societies is a priority in Africa, the way we act to promote democracy and defend democratic freedoms in each country is dependent on the context and needs of the country concerned. The Westminster Foundation for Democracy is an important partner in delivering this work in many African contexts.

The impact of the global pandemic on the UK economy has forced us to take the tough but necessary decision to temporarily reduce how much we spend on Official Development Assistance (ODA). We will temporarily move to a target of spending 0.5 per cent of Gross National Income (GNI) on ODA, rather than 0.7 per cent. This is a temporary measure and we will return to 0.7 per cent when the fiscal situation allows. We are now working through the implications of these changes for individual programmes. No decisions have yet been made on individual budget allocations.

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