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The U.K. government’s aid cuts are finally getting a vote — but there’s a twist.
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Supporters of U.K. aid have been calling for months for the government to allow a vote on its decision to suspend a legal commitment to providing 0.7% of gross national income as foreign assistance. In a sharp reversal, Jacob Rees-Mogg, leader of the House of Commons, announced Monday that such a vote will take place, but the details of what parliament will be voting on are not so simple.
My indefatigable colleague Will Worley, who has been tracking the cuts and the debate surrounding them, tells me this is “a potentially historic day for U.K. development.”
Parliament can vote in favor of the government’s proposal to restore the aid budget to 0.7% of GNI once certain economic conditions are met, or they can reject the proposal, which would return aid funding to its previous levels starting in January 2022. Chancellor Rishi Sunak warned that rejecting the proposal could mean increased taxation or reduced public spending to pay for it.
The economic conditions outlined in the proposal would restrict aid spending until the government is “not borrowing for day-to-day spending and underlying debt is falling.”
Will tells me that is “a twist, apparently designed to pacify potential Conservative rebels, members of a political party which prides itself on careful public spending.”
One observer found that the U.K. government would only have met the conditions that would allow aid spending to rise once in the last 20 years.
Elizabeth Sugg, who resigned as a minister from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office over the aid cuts, wrote on Twitter: “So a vote for the motion means no 0.7% for the foreseeable future. A vote against means a return next year.”
Read: Government aid motion spells end of 0.7% target, experts say
Hardest hit
“Some of my friends have completely stopped schooling and they have picked full-time jobs, others as livestock cowherds or goatherds while others are in actual cultivation work.”
— A 13-year-old boy from Malawi who has left school to assist his parents in the maize and tobacco fields.Child rights activists in Malawi say they have seen an increase in child labor due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, public health measures and funding shortfalls have made it more difficult for those same groups to respond, Madalitso Wills Kateta reports.
Read: Is COVID-19 affecting Malawi’s efforts to protect children from work?
Losing ground
The number of people experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity in 2020 increased in every region of the world, according to the 2021 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report, released Monday.
• Nearly 12% of the global population faced severe food insecurity in 2020, with around 118 million more people facing hunger last year than in 2019, Teresa Welsh reports.
• 30 million more people will be hungry in 2030 than would have been had the pandemic not occurred — putting the SDG on ending hunger further out of reach.
• The food gender gap security gender gap also increased: In 2019, women were 6% more likely than men to experience moderate to severe food insecurity; now that’s 10%.
Read: Dire warnings for pandemic-era hunger levels realized, report shows
+ Visit the Future of Food Systems series for more coverage on food and nutrition — and importantly, how we can make food fair and healthy for all. You can join the conversation using the hashtag #FoodSystems.
Great expectations?
Last week’s meeting of G-20 finance ministers and central bankers left vaccine equity advocates underwhelmed, Adva Saldinger reports.
From Adva: What the G-20 did say on vaccines in the final communique was rather vague: that it supports collaborative efforts on COVID-19 immunization and efforts to diversify vaccine-manufacturing capacity and strengthen health systems. The group also committed to developing proposals for sustainable financing for future pandemic preparedness that it expects to review in a joint meeting of G-20 health and finance ministers in October.
Airing of grievances
Two consultants for UNICEF UK have spoken out about the “institutional racism” one of them experienced, which led to them withdrawing from their work with the organization.
Fifa A Rahman says she faced bureaucratic barriers and condescending treatment that people with Anglicized names don’t face. UNICEF UK apologized and said it “continues to learn,” but Rahman and consultant Rachel Crockett have called for the organization to go further and adopt the racism audit currently being developed by the AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa.
Read: Two consultants accuse UNICEF UK of ‘institutional racism’
Worth the squeeze
European mango lovers rejoice. Kenya is lifting a self-imposed ban on mango exports to the continent with promises to implement a new pest-free certification process, with funding expected from the U.S. Agency for International Development.
In other news
Canada will donate nearly 18 million excess doses of AstraZeneca vaccines to COVAX. [The Hill]
A fire broke out in a COVID-19 isolation ward at a hospital in Iraq on Monday, killing at least 50. [BBC]
Tigrayan forces in Ethiopia are pushing south and say they have captured another town from government troops. [Reuters]
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About the author
Michael Igoe@AlterIgoe
Michael Igoe is a Senior Reporter with Devex, based in Washington, D.C. He covers U.S. foreign aid, global health, climate change, and development finance. Prior to joining Devex, Michael researched water management and climate change adaptation in post-Soviet Central Asia, where he also wrote for EurasiaNet. Michael earned his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College, where he majored in Russian, and his master’s degree from the University of Montana, where he studied international conservation and development.
