Development Education Research Centre at UCL Response to International Development Committee Enquiry on the Future of Aid and Development Assistance

Staff from the Development Education Research Centre (DERC) have a wealth of experience and evidence in promoting understanding and engagement with development issues.[1] The Centre was funded for its first six years from 2006 to 2012 through a core grant from DFID.  The Centre has also worked closely with a range of relevant international bodies including UNESCO, OECD, UNICEF and networks in Europe such as Global Education Network Europe (GENE).

We particularly want to focus in our comments on the engagement with the UK public, the perceptions there are about development and how they can be more involved in engagement in these matters.

There is a wealth of evidence (Bourn,2020; GENE,2022) that amongst the leading industralised countries there is interest, concern and thirst for more knowledge and opportunities for engagement on a wide range of global issues, be they climate change, peace and security, migration, global inequalities and a range of health-related matters. What is now different from say or ten or fifteen years ago is that this engagement and interest tends to be framed in ways that do not necessarily start with a development lens. For example, the current media interest in asylum seekers rarely discusses why thousands of people from a range of countries in the Global South are seeking refuge. The underlying causes are rarely discussed and explained. What is needed is a different narrative that locates understanding and engagement with development within a broader frame of reference such as global concerns, global citizenship and wanting to see a more just and sustainable world. There is a need to demonstrate the local-global connections. It is the narrative that needs to change.

Within education in the UK there is a wealth of evidence from grassroots and national organisations that many educationalists are doing this. Leading organisations such as UNICEF UK run a very popular rights and respect school awards programme[2].  Global Learning London for example runs a very successful project for schools entitled ‘communities of hope’.[3]

Children and young people are concerned, engaged and in many cases, active on these issues. It is because the issues are promoted within a framework of fairness, care and social justice. What we suggest is needed is for FCDO to listen and engage with those organisations who are undertaking this work, to see what they can learn and how lessons can be applied for broader forms of public engagement.

It is often said these days there is little public interest in aid and development. Our answer to that is how you frame it, promote it and discuss it. People of all ages are concerned about climate change, peace, gender inequalities and health. If the global pandemic has taught us one thing it is that we are all globally connected. What happens in one part of the world has an impact elsewhere.

The evidence from a range of studies shows that to engage people in development issues means you must go beyond the simplistic messages with calls for passive support (Hudson and Van Heede Hudson,2012). Global and development issues are complex and understanding requires investment in education in the UK and internationally.

The UK is now an outlier in Europe on these matters. Countries such as Ireland, Belgium, Spain and Germany have invested in development education and this has resulted in engagement in global issues be they in the schools, the community or further and higher education (GENE,2022). UNESCO in 2023 produced a new recommendation on peace, international understanding, human rights, global citizenship and sustainable development which is having influence in a range of countries around the world, yet it is rarely mentioned in the UK (Benavot,Bourn, Sinclair and Smart,2025).

Within the UK there is a proud tradition of public engagement in development from Live Aid to Make Poverty History and support for the Sustainable Development Goals.  Many young people are not only anxious about climate, they are also angry because they feel their voices are not being heard. Communities around the country have been active on issues concerning wat in Ukraine and the Middle East. The Development community has an important role to play in combating the xenophobia that exists within certain aspects of UK society. FCDO and the relevant agencies need to identify ways they can work in partnership with other bodies to promote a more just and peaceful world. Education can play a major role in building this engagement.

References:

Bourn,D. (2020) (edited) The Bloomsbury Handbook on Global Education and Learning, London, Bloomsbury.

Hudson,D. and van Heede Hudson,J. (2012) A Mile Wide but an Inch Deep- Surveys of Public Attitudes Towards Development Aid, International Journal of Development Educationa and Global Learning,vol.4,1,5-23.

Global Education Network Europe (2022) Global Education to 2050, Dublin,GENE.

Global Learning Network and DERC (2024) The Case for Global Learning, Cumbria, Global Learning Network.

Benavot,A, Bourn,D, Sinclair,M and Smart,A. (eds) (2025)Global Education for a Better World- How International Policies, Curricula, Materials and Practices Can Help Transform Learning, Dublin/London/ Albany, NISSEM/ GENE/ANGEL

UNESCO (2023) Education for Peace and Human Rights,International Understanding, Cooperation, Fundamental Freedoms, Global Citizenship and Sustainable Development, Paris, UNESCO