The government's decision to reduce the overseas development aid (ODA) budget over the next three years has been strongly criticised by aid agencies.
The Catholic agency CAFOD says it will have an immediate impact on some of the world's poorest communities. In Africa, the budget is being reduced by 56% or £900m by 2028/2029.
Announcing the move, the Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said she had made the “hugely difficult” decision because of increased spending on defence.
The budget will move to the equivalent of 0.3% of Gross National Income by 2027, but the Foreign Secretary said she hoped it would return to 0.7% when fiscal circumstances allow. She said countries such as Germany, France and Sweden had made similar choices.
Yvette Cooper said she remained committed to international development as “a reflection of both our values and our national interest. It is a fundamental part of our moral purpose to stand up against global disease and hunger and to support those trapped in crises caused by conflict or climate change.”
But Neil Thorns, who is Director of Advocacy at CAFOD, told Premier the cuts “fly in the face of that feeling that we are all one body and that poverty is a wound for the whole human family.”
"Cutting the aid budget certainly is not going to make us safer," he said. "The aid budget makes us safer, because, if you really want to bring peace and harmony to the world, you’re going to do that by tackling inequality. You're going to do that by giving children and everyone the right to education or the opportunity to education. And if there are conflicts, then you're going to win those through diplomacy.”
The government has protected the budget for some “Fragile and Conflict Affected States” such as Sudan, Gaza and Ukraine, but other countries such as Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe and Malawi will be particularly badly hit by the reduced budget.
The MP Sarah Champion, who is Chair of the International Development Committee, said approximately 250,000 adolescents in Malawi would lose access to modern methods of family planning each year and an expected 20,000 children would be at risk of dropping out of school because of an end to school feeding programmes.
Neil Thorns said the reduced budget will particularly impact education, vaccination programmes and health systems. “The impact on lives will be severe," he added.
“Peace and security in the world will be achieved through tackling poverty, reducing inequality and solving issues which cause destabilisation through diplomacy and dialogue, not through greater spending on defence.
“Today is not a good day for the UK’s global reputation, and it’s the wrong time for the government to be breaking its manifesto pledge to be a global climate leader.”