Speaking at the virtual UN General Assembly, the UK Prime Minister hit the nail on the head. After observing that the community we are part of – the international community – looks “pretty tattered”, he offered a warning: “Unless we unite and turn our fire against our common foe, we know that everyone will lose”.
The Prime Minister was talking about COVID-19, but he could have added a few more foes looming large on the horizon of the newly created Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). They include surging poverty, malnutrition, a global education crisis, enormous threats to the natural world, and an increasingly challenged international rules-based system – with the world’s most deprived children bearing the brunt. Without concerted and urgent international action, they will be left carrying the scars for the rest of their lives. Will the UK take a stand for the children now at risk? And how can the FCDO make a difference?
Aid matters
That question was at the heart of our #FutureofAid blog series. Of course, international development is about much more than aid. But with the world teetering on the brink of unprecedented reversals in development, make no mistake: aid matters. It matters because it makes a difference in vulnerable lives. It matters because UK aid has a long and proud tradition of leveraging international action. And it matters because what we do through aid says something important about how we act on values like compassion, solidarity and kindness.
The government has an extraordinary opportunity to demonstrate that the UK is serious about putting leadership on development and children’s rights at the heart of its Global Britain project. Next year, it will host a key G7 meeting and a summit in climate change. Taken together, as Lilei Chow shows, these events could play a decisive role in protecting today’s generation of children from the crisis triggered by COVID-19, and future generations from a climate breakdown. Could is the operative word. Outcomes will depend on decisions made at the FCDO over the weeks and months ahead.
Our blog authors set out what we in Save the Children see as some of the most critical challenges. Keeping poverty reduction, support for the poorest countries, and the 0.7% aid commitment in legislation is one imperative. Another is accountability to parliament and the UK public through proper independent scrutiny. We have welcomed confirmation that the Independent Commission for Aid Impact will be retained, and hope that it will continue to answer to a specialist Select Committee to scrutinise UK aid spending. These are vital domestic safeguards for the quality of UK aid. Meanwhile, the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) rules set international standards for aid spending – and it is critical that the UK continues not only to adhere to them but to shape them, influencing the priorities of all aid donors.
Protecting children
By combining the UK’s first-class development experience with its diplomatic expertise, the FCDO could enhance the protection of children living in conflict and protect children’s rights around the world. With over 420 million children living in conflict zones, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will not be met without a joined-up effort across development, peace-building and human rights. The government’s newly announced Magnitsky sanctions and its recently updated civilian protection approach are steps in the right direction. But as conflicts continue to rage and impunity for violations goes unchallenged, more must be done.
Tackling poverty
The UK played a leadership role not just in framing the SDGs, but in focusing attention on the core equity commitment of ‘leaving no one behind’. That theme figured prominently in the Conservative Party manifesto, which included pledges on ending preventable child deaths and ensuring every girl gets at least 12 years schooling. At a time when recent projection suggest another 150 million children have fallen into poverty, when half-a-million additional children could suffer wasting in 2020, when preventable diseases are claiming more lives, and when millions of girls face the prospect of being pushed out of school and into early marriage, we need to see the action behind the commitments.
One indicator of intent will be where the cuts in aid fall. Richard Watts points out that human capital spending appears to bear the brunt of planned reductions. This would be difficult to square with the SDG and manifesto commitments. One of the most effective antidotes to child poverty is cash transfers – and as Luke Harman notes, this is an area in which the UK is well placed to lead from the front.
Preventing hunger and disease
The government deserves credit for the leadership it has shown on multilateralism in health. One of the lessons of COVID-19 is that we need global approaches to pandemic prevention and treatment. Karrar Karrar documents the UK’s emergence as the largest donor in the race to find a COVID-19 vaccine through its contributions (£250m to date) to Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovations (CEPI), and the Prime Minister used his UN speech to announce a $570m contribution to the COVAX initiative for vaccine distribution to the poorest countries.
That is a powerful illustration of an SDG commitment translated into action. However, more will be needed. Without a concerted global drive to support health systems and combat the surge in severe malnutrition in the poorest countries, we will see a rise in deaths from killer diseases like pneumonia, malaria and diarrhoea. The warning lights are already flashing – but the UK’s response is lagging. In Baroness Sugg, the UK has a respected and powerful champion for girls’ education – and this must surely be a defining cause for the G7.
The creation of the FCDO came with an occasionally heated debate between protagonists with different perspectives. The time for debate and difference is now over. As the Prime Minister told the UN General Assembly, we are a single international community. We live in polarised times, but we must not lose sight of our shared values – and surely there is no better expression of those values than taking a stand for children who need us.
Read more from our blog series on The Future of British Aid.
The future of British aid