PREVIEW
Development budget reduced as military spending increases
Africa will be the main victim of cuts to the UK’s foreign aid budget, according to a new report and impact assessment by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. The biggest cuts this year will come in Africa, with less spent on women's health, water and sanitation leading to increased risks, according to the assessment, of disease.
Aid for countries experiencing humanitarian crises, such as South Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia, will also be cut.
That follows the pattern of the United States aid cuts and shuttering of USAID announced by President Donald Trump earlier this year, with the main cuts being to health and education (AC Vol 66 No 13, Development finance implodes with rich countries shifting to military budgets).
Development budgets have been sacrificed as the United Kingdom and other European countries plan to ramp up their defence spending amid US threats to slash spending on NATO’s eastern flank. France has cut its development spending by 18.5%, while Germany has announced cuts of 10.5%. Britain’s decision to partially fund military spending by cutting its development budget from 0.5% to 0.3% triggered little criticism, though International Development Minister Anneliese Dodds resigned in protest (AC Vol 66 No 5, Western aid cuts reshape the geopolitical landscape).
The government said the cuts follow ‘a line-by-line strategic review of aid’ by the minister, which focused on ‘prioritisation, efficiency, protecting planned humanitarian support and live contracts while ensuring responsible exit from programming where necessary’.
However, in June, the UK kept its status as the largest single donor to Gavi, the global vaccine alliance, pledging US$1.7 billion over the next five years as part of a total of more than $9bn.
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