Editor’s Note: This article was updated on Feb. 25 to include additional information from DfID on new funding to Somalia.
The U.K. Department for International Development has backtracked on an announcement it would offer 200 million British pounds ($249 million) in new assistance to Somalia and South Sudan in the wake of famine alerts issued by the United Nations, clarifying that most of the money had already been unofficially budgeted to the two countries for the 2017-2018 period but had not been allocated for humanitarian relief.
A DfID spokesperson told Devex that the full 100 million British pounds ($125 million) committed to South Sudan and some of the 100 million British pounds committed to Somalia had already been unofficially earmarked for the countries but was dedicated to humanitarian relief efforts and released immediately following the U.N. alert. Most of the money that will be sent for relief efforts in Somalia does represent new funding to the country, the spokesperson said
About the author
Molly Andersmollyanders_dev
Molly Anders is a former U.K. correspondent for Devex. Based in London, she reports on development finance trends with a focus on British and European institutions. She is especially interested in evidence-based development and women’s economic empowerment, as well as innovative financing for the protection of migrants and refugees. Molly is a former Fulbright Scholar and studied Arabic in Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Morocco.
