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The debate on 6 July will focus on the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) spending and the new international development strategy, published in May 2022.
Estimates: FCDO spending on the international development strategy (483 KB , PDF)
On 6 July 2022 there will be an Estimates Day debate on the spending of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) on its strategy for international development.
These subjects were selected by the Backbench Business Committee and were proposed by the Chair of the International Development Committee, Sarah Champion MP.
This paper briefly sets out FCDO spending on aid, the new international development strategy, and the policy background to the changes.
In May 2022, the FCDO published its new ten-year strategy for international development. The strategy will be in place for ten years.
The strategy identifies four priorities for UK aid:
While poverty is not mentioned a separate priority, the Government argues a focus on increasing trade, the empowerment of women and girls, and action on climate change will help alleviate or address the causes of poverty. By law, UK development assistance provided by the FCDO must also be intended to reduce poverty and inequality between persons of different gender.
The strategy is published in the context of reduced UK aid spending and the Government’s wider foreign policy intentions to increase UK efforts in Africa and the Indo-Pacific, partly in response to China.
Aid spending was an estimated £3 billion lower in 2021 than 2020 (£14.5 billion versus £11.5 billion). While the date at which the UK will restore aid spending from 0.5% to 0.7% of Gross National Income is uncertain, the tests laid out by the Government suggest this will be in 2023/24, on current trends.
The reductions in spending have been controversial, with organisations including UN agencies as well as charities and NGOs stating many programmes have seen their contributions from the UK reduced.
In line with the Government’s 2021 integrated review of foreign, defence, security, and development policy, UK aid under the new strategy will focus on Africa and the Indo-Pacific (a region extending from Afghanistan to China):
Estimates: FCDO spending on the international development strategy (483 KB , PDF)
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UK aid to the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA)
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