Opinion: Democracy is higher up the UK aid agenda, which is good news
By Anthony Smith // 13 December 2023
When the first of the modern United Kingdom international development white papers were published more than 25 years ago, the world was a different place — the U.K.’s economy was bigger than China’s, mobile technology’s impact on reducing poverty hadn’t even been thought of, and the post-Cold War wave of democratization was in full flow.
Maybe because democracy’s progress was taken for granted, development ministries dismissed its fundamental importance for development, and even Amartya Sen’s mantra that development is freedom didn’t land the point.
But international development policy has made progress since then — just look at the U.K. government white paper on international development that was published at the end of last month.
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About the author
Anthony Smith
Anthony Smith is the chief executive of Westminster Foundation for Democracy, the United Kingdom public body dedicated to strengthening democracy around the world. He serves on the boards of the European Partnership for Democracy and Peace Direct and was previously international relations director at the Department for International Development.
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