Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made in relation to the OECD's Development Assistance Committee redesignating British Overseas Territories and Commonwealth Island States so that they would be eligible for Overseas Development Aid.

The UK continues to support the current methodology for assessing the graduation of countries from Official Development Assistance (ODA) where countries and territories cease to be ODA-eligible when they reach High Income Status, including for British Overseas Territories and Commonwealth Island States. However, following the recent devastation of small islands in the Caribbean, we are pleased that agreement was reached at the OECD Development Assistance Committee’s (OECD-DAC) High Level Meeting in October to establish a process which could allow previous recipients of ODA to receive short-term ODA support in the event of catastrophic humanitarian crises. We also welcome the OECD-DAC’s agreement on the need to create a new mechanism to allow countries to receive ODA when their income falls below the High Income threshold, for example as a result of a catastrophic natural disaster or other crisis. Officials have considered the Commonwealth Vulnerability Index and take this into account when looking at the issue of vulnerability. We agree that some states face particular vulnerabilities and the Government will continue to work with the international community to ensure that vulnerable states receive the support they need.