Establishing an independent U.K. international development department with a poverty-focused mission and budget autonomy is essential to rebuild the country’s leadership in international development and respond to new and existing global challenges rapidly and effectively.
In autumn 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a seismic decision: merging the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to form the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. This move, undertaken without consultation, little preparation, or clear evidence of its benefits, has proven to be deeply damaging.
The merger led to a reduced emphasis on development in the U.K. government and a significant loss of development expertise within FCDO. In the first year following the merger, over 200 DFID staffers left FCDO without being replaced, exacerbating the loss of development expertise. It also triggered three years of distracting administrative restructuring and diminished transparency. Coupled with drastic cuts to the U.K. aid budget, the merger tarnished the U.K.'s hard-won development reputation at a time of global need.