Submission to the International Development Committee

Mike Buckley, former aid worker, independent international development policy and advocacy specialist

November 2025

Introduction

The UK faces an inflection point in its approach to development. The reduction of Official Development Assistance (ODA) to 0.3% of GNI—combined with falling contributions from other major donors—risks weakening the UK’s global role, reducing poverty reduction outcomes, and undermining stability in regions critical to UK interests. At the same time, needs are rising sharply: debt distress, food insecurity, climate impacts, and stalled progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are reversing decades of development gains.

A constrained aid budget must therefore be used more strategically, more effectively, and in ways that leverage the UK’s comparative advantages. Development policy must also evolve to include the wider systemic levers—debt, tax, climate finance, trade, investment, and governance—through which sustainable prosperity is created.

It is a strategic error to frame development and defence as competing priorities; sustainable development is a core pillar of long-term security. Conflict prevention, economic resilience, climate stability, and strong institutions are essential to UK and global security, and all depend on effective development partnerships.

This submission sets out a proposed future direction for UK development policy grounded in:

• systemic financial reform,
• strategic prioritisation of ODA,
• support for sustainable economic transformation, and
• deepened partnerships with the Global South.

It draws on evidence from ODI, Global Counsel, CAFOD, Egmont Institute, development economists, and recent UK parliamentary and policy debates.

1. Prioritising UK ODA

1.1 UK ODA

Although ODA is not the primary engine of development—economic transformation is—aid remains essential in several areas:

• humanitarian relief,
• global health,
• climate adaptation,
• fragility and conflict prevention,
• social protection and education in the poorest countries.

The UK’s choices send important geopolitical signals. A return to 0.5% would demonstrate reliability to partners, stabilise multilateral institutions, and reinforce UK influence.

1.2 Focus bilateral aid on the poorest and most fragile countries

As ODI and CGD analysis shows, extreme poverty is increasingly concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa.

A future strategy should:

• restore Africa’s share of country-allocable bilateral ODA to at least 55%, rising to 60% by 2028/29;
• ensure at least 50% of bilateral aid goes to Least Developed Countries (LDCs);
• reduce or eliminate grant ODA to upper-middle-income countries except where vital to UK interests (e.g., Ukraine).

1.3 Prioritise multilaterals

Multilaterals—Gavi, the Global Fund, IDA, UN humanitarian agencies—remain the most effective mechanisms for delivering large-scale impact.

To maximise value for money, the UK should:

• increase the share of programmable ODA to multilaterals;
• maintain predictable multi-year replenishment commitments;
• treat multilateral leadership as a strategic priority for UK influence;
• support ODI’s proposed Global Hunger & Poverty Alliance under the G20 framework, helping to coordinate global action on SDGs 1 and 2.

2. Ensuring Flexibility to Respond to Partner Priorities

Partner countries overwhelmingly prioritise economic transformation, industrialisation, infrastructure, energy access, and trade. The UK should shift its development partnerships to align.

Key principles:

• Co-ownership: development programmes should be designed with, not for, partner governments.
• Long-term commitments: especially in infrastructure, grid development, critical minerals, and energy transitions.
• Mobility and skills partnerships: enabling short-term exchange, technical cooperation, and knowledge transfer.

The UK should also avoid the growing trend of linking aid to migration control, which research shows is ineffective and risks damaging diplomatic relationships.

3. Adapting Delivery Models for Development and Humanitarian Assistance

3.1 Strengthen humanitarian leadership

The UK should maintain humanitarian funding as a ringfenced priority, aligned with its commitments to anticipatory action, food security, and climate resilience.

3.2 Move from fragmented projects to coherent, long-term programmes

Cuts have too often resulted in small, disconnected activities. The UK should consolidate programming into fewer, larger, more impactful country platforms—mirroring multilateral best practice.

3.3 Integrate emerging technologies responsibly

The UK has world-leading expertise in:

• AI,
• data systems,
• digital public infrastructure,
• global health R&D.

These capabilities should be embedded in development partnerships, while ensuring equitable access and preventing digital inequality in the Global South.

4. Align Development with Foreign Policy, Economic Security and National Interests

Development is a core component of UK economic and national security. It should be framed accordingly.

4.1 Critical minerals and resilient supply chains

UK and European decarbonisation depend on stable access to cobalt, nickel, manganese and other minerals—mostly located in fragile states. Supporting sustainable extraction, local value-addition, and governance reforms reduces dependency on adversarial suppliers and strengthens global stability.

4.2 Climate security

Climate impacts drive conflict, displacement, food insecurity and political instability. Supporting renewable energy, resilient agriculture, and climate-adapted infrastructure in partner countries directly supports UK security.

4.3 Trade and economic diplomacy

“Trade not aid” is reductive—but trade, investment, and economic transformation are indispensable to long-term development.

UK development policy should therefore:

• support regional integration (e.g., AfCFTA);
• use BII, UKEF and FCDO diplomacy coherently;
• invest in grids, transport corridors and value-added processing;
• mobilise UK expertise in services, standards, skills, and digital economies.

4.4 Conflict prevention and institution-building

Strong institutions reduce terrorism, organised crime and forced migration. Support should include:

• governance reform,
• anti-corruption,
• public financial management,
• judicial reform,
• inclusive politics.

These are central to UK national security.

5. Strengthen Partnerships

The UK approach should shift from donor–recipient dynamics to genuine partnership. This requires:

• shared priority-setting with partner governments;
• greater use of country systems where feasible;
• reform of risk appetite so development programmes can operate in fragile environments;
• embedding Global South experts and institutions throughout programme governance.

Partnership must also include respect for agency. Countries increasingly favour development models that support industrialisation, local value-creation, and long-term investment—an area where UK economic diplomacy must adapt and respond.

6. Leverage UK Expertise: From “Grants to Expertise”

This shift must be grounded in real capability. There is high demand for UK expertise in:

• global health research (e.g., malaria, TB, vaccine platforms),
• climate science and modelling,
• energy system design,
• legal and financial services,
• regulatory standards,
• civil service training,
• public finance,
• disaster risk management.

To make this meaningful, Government should:

• provide long-term funding for technical partnerships;
• avoid tying UK expertise to short project cycles;
• ensure that technical assistance complements, rather than substitutes for, ODA grant investment.

7. The UK’s Role in Systemic Multilateral Reform

With global ODA declining, systemic reform is no longer optional. The UK is uniquely positioned as a global debt and tax jurisdiction to lead the world in correcting structural injustices that drain resources from the poorest countries.

7.1 Debt reform

The UK should:

• pass a “London Law” compelling private lenders governed by English law to participate in debt restructurings;
• strengthen the G20 Common Framework, including automatic standstills;
• support a public global debt registry;
• ensure Debt Sustainability Analyses incorporate climate, gender and human impacts;
• support the exploration of a sovereign bankruptcy process under UN auspices.

7.2 Tax reform

The UK should:

• ensure full beneficial ownership transparency in Overseas Territories;
• support the UN Tax Convention;
• align with global initiatives for minimum corporate and wealth taxation;
• crack down on illicit financial flows that drain billions from poorer economies.

7.3 Multilateral Development Bank (MDB) reform

Priorities include:

• expanded concessional lending for LICs;
• social-sector financing;
• increased voice for Global South countries;
• performance-based reforms;
• faster and simpler climate and infrastructure finance.

8. Recommendations

A. Systemic & Multilateral Reform

1. Back ODI’s proposed Global Hunger & Poverty Alliance and position the UK as a key convening country.
2. Pass a UK London Law to compel private lenders to participate in debt restructurings.
3. Support a UN-led sovereign debt process and a global public debt registry.
4. Join the UN Tax Convention and strengthen beneficial ownership transparency.
5. Lead a coalition for ambitious MDB reform focused on concessionality, transparency and Global South representation.

B. ODA Prioritisation & Budget Strategy

6. Restore ODA to 0.5% of GNI, recognising its essential humanitarian, climate, and global health role.
7. Increase multilateral allocations.
8. Restore Africa’s share of bilateral ODA to at least 55%, rising to 60% by 2028/29.
9. End grant aid to upper-middle-income countries (except Ukraine).
10. Ringfence humanitarian budgets, with a strengthened focus on anticipatory action.

C. Economic Transformation & Sustainable Growth

11. Align UK development partnerships with partner-country industrial strategies.
12. Support infrastructure, grids, and critical mineral value-addition through coherent BII–UKEF–FCDO economic diplomacy.
13. Expand mobility partnerships for skills, standards and services.
14. Deepen support for AfCFTA and regional integration to enable transformative growth.

D. Governance, Inclusion & Local Partnerships

15. Prioritise institution-building, anti-corruption, public financial management and inclusive governance.
16. Embed Global South leadership into programme governance.
17. Channel more resources through local and regional organisations where appropriate.

Conclusion

A diminished ODA budget, growing global instability, and declining multilateral capacity require a new strategic approach. The UK should combine targeted, poverty-focused aid with ambitious leadership on systemic reforms to debt, tax and global finance; prioritise multilaterals and African partnerships; align development with economic transformation; and rebuild long-term partnerships grounded in mutual respect and shared priorities.

By doing so, the UK can make the limited aid budget go further, strengthen its own economic and national security, and play a leading role in reshaping global development for a more stable and equitable future.