Watch: The end of UK aid?

Have the challenges faced by the development sector in the last 18 months been so bad that they have spelled the end of U.K. aid? U.K. Correspondent Will Worley was joined by Romilly Greenhill, the U.K. director at ONE Campaign, and Ranil Dissanayake, policy fellow at the Center for Global Development, to discuss just that. Among other things, they discussed the landscape of development after the closure of the Department for International Development, the aid cuts, and myriad policy failures. Both thought leaders have worked stints at DFID, when it existed, and keep a keen eye on the government’s international development policies and the surrounding politics, advocating and researching for better aid and development policies. The conversation covered: • Their assessment of the last 18 months for British development, and whether it really is the end of U.K. aid. • What the United Kingdom government must do to be a credible development leader. • Reflections on the strategic nous behind the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office’s aid policies. • How much time FCDO should be given to turn around it’s much criticized transparency standards. • If a path back to 0.7% aid spending is possible — or even desirable. • And why it’s important that aid is spent well — and what the implications of moving away from the spending rules set by the OECD Development Assistance Committee might be.