- Foreign Secretary publishes International Development
Strategy to respond to a world increasingly affected by
geopolitics
- the UK will use aid and investment to create global economic
growth and challenge dependency on malign actors to offer honest
alternative for low- and middle-income countries
- the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)
will prioritise bilateral programmes to ensure money is spent on
key priorities including educating girls and providing
life-saving humanitarian support
The Foreign Secretary has today set out her vision for the future of UK
international development. The strategy, which builds on a proud
record of global leadership on development, will challenge
dependency on malign actors, offering choice and bringing more
countries into the orbit of free-market economies.
The strategy will help address increasing global challenges,
delivering investment, supporting women and girls, getting
humanitarian assistance to those who need it most, and continuing
our work on climate change, nature and global health.
Development will be at the heart of the UK’s foreign policy which
uses all the levers available – including development, diplomacy,
investment, trade, defence and intelligence – to deliver on our
foreign policy objectives.
The strategy will use British International Investment and other
tools to provide honest and reliable finance to help low- and
middle-income countries take control of their futures, giving
them an alternative so they are not burdened with unsustainable
debt with strings attached. This approach will help deliver the
Clean Green Initiative, supporting countries to grow their
economies sustainably.
The Government will also use the strategy to rebalance the aid
budget towards bilateral programmes. This will give the
Government greater control on how money is spent allowing a focus
on priorities and improve lives around the world.
Foreign Secretary said:
In an increasingly geopolitical world, we must use development as
a key part of our foreign policy. Malign actors treat economics
and development as a means of control, using patronage,
investment and debt as a form of economic coercion and political
power. We won’t mirror their malign tactics, but we will match
them in our resolve to provide an alternative.
The new strategy, launched today, will ensure that our
international development work brings benefit across the globe
and here at home. Our strategy will deepen economic, security and
development ties globally, while delivering jobs and growth in
both the UK and partner countries.
The International Development Strategy sets out four priorities
where the UK can meet the needs of countries around the world:
- elivering honest, reliable investment, through British
Investment Partnerships, building on the UK’s financial expertise
and the strengths of the City of London and delivering the Prime
Minister’s vision for the Clean Green Initiative - supporting
countries to grow their economies sustainably.
- providing women and girls with the freedom they need to
succeed. We intend to restore the bilateral budget to help unlock
their future potential, educate girls, support their empowerment
and protect them against violence.
- stepping-up our life-saving humanitarian work to prevent the
worst forms of human suffering around the world. We will
prioritise humanitarian funding levels at £3 billion over the
next three years, to remain a leader in crisis response.
- taking forward our work on climate change, nature and global
health. We are putting the commitments of our Presidency of G7
and COP26, and our COVID-19 response, at the core of our
international development offer.
Our new approach to development will:
- spend more on country and bilateral programmes rather than
through multilateral organisations, empowering the UK to deliver
more aid directly to where it is needed. By 2025, the
FCDO
intends to spend three quarters of its aid budget allocated
at the 2021 Spending Review bilaterally.
- use world-class British expertise to support partner
countries through providing advice, exchanging lessons and
evidence of what works and building partnerships across
government, research, business and civil society.
- cut back red tape and excessive bureaucracy around delivering
aid and give Ambassadors and High Commissioners greater authority
to get programmes delivering on the ground quickly. We will
reduce the time it takes to approve a business case from many
months to less than six weeks.
- sustain our commitment to Africa and ensure our development
programmes in the Indo-Pacific remain a critical part of our
ambition to increase our focus on the region.
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