Official Development Assistance

Lord Oates Excerpts

Monday 21st July 2025 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Oates]

To ask His Majesty’s Government whether they have made an assessment of the likely impact of cuts to Official Development Assistance in the UK, United States of America and European nations on progress towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

[Lord Oates (LD)]

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper, and in doing so I declare my interest as chief executive of United Against Malnutrition and Hunger.

[The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Baroness Chapman of Darlington) (Lab)]

My Lords, we are committed to the sustainable development goals and to continue working with partners to accelerate progress by 2030. To do this, we are resetting our approach, moving from donor to investor and building modern, mutually beneficial partnerships to navigate global issues. Aid alone has never been enough, which is why at the conference on financing for development we pushed for tangible action on global finance system reform, including UK-led initiatives to unlock more private capital.

[Lord Oates (LD)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her reply. She will be aware that the cumulative impacts of cuts to development support around the world fundamentally undermine progress on the sustainable development goals, with devastating consequences for millions of people. In light of that fact, will she ensure that remaining UK development support is maximised by directing it through match-funding mechanisms with partner countries and philanthropies, by working with multilateral development banks to leverage their balance sheets to focus on the SDGs and by urgently addressing unsustainable debt servicing burdens on low-income countries?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

It certainly does present a challenge, as the UK and many other nations are making similar decisions about their ODA budgets. However, while it makes this more of a challenge, it does not mean that we give up, and the way that the noble Lord suggests that we direct our spend in future is pretty much what we are doing. We are focusing and pivoting more towards the multilateral system, because that is how you can leverage more funds and get better value and more impact in country, which we all want to see.