Conference call: How FCO spends aid

Last month, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a merger between the Department for International Development and Foreign & Commonwealth Office to form a new department — the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office — by September.

While we don’t know yet exactly what the new department will look like, we do know that DFID and FCO spend official development assistance very differently. At the moment, FCO spends just 4.5% of U.K. ODA, compared to DFID’s 73% share of the aid budget — but with the merger, FCO’s approach to ODA spending could become more dominant.