Developing Countries: Overseas Aid

(asked on 16th July 2021) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to consult local communities in (a) lower and (b) middle income countries to ensure that the reduced ODA budget is spent in a way that is as responsive as possible to their needs.


Answered by
Wendy Morton Portrait
Wendy Morton
This question was answered on 21st July 2021

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is committed to locally-led development. This year, we have continued to work together with local partners and suppliers to ensure the UK can continue to make the most difference and achieve maximum strategic coherence, impact, and value for money. For example, we have protected funding to a new 10-year, £60 million co-funded partnership with Comic Relief that will test innovative approaches to building the capacity and sustainability of civil society organisations in Ghana, Zambia and Malawi to help them pursue their own strategic objectives.

Following announcement of the temporary reduction of ODA in 2021, FCDO Ministers engaged with over 80 NGOs, partners and parliamentarians, including through a roundtable for civil society. For 2021/22 spend, the Foreign Secretary completed a cross-government review of how ODA should be allocated against the government's priorities and set out in the results in a WMS on 26 January.

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