Ahead of the Global Partnerships Conference, 82 NGO leaders call for greater ambition for UK’s international development agenda

Today, Monday 18th May, 82 INGO leaders, including from ActionAid UK, Christian Aid, the ONE Campaign, Oxfam GB, and Plan International UK have issued a statement calling on the UK government to step up its ambitions for an inclusive international development agenda rooted in genuine, equitable partnerships. The statement comes ahead of this week’s Global Partnerships Conference, which the UK is set to host. 

The Global Partnerships Conference, taking place on 19^th –20^th May, will bring together stakeholders from across governments, civil society, technology and AI and the wider private sector to build cross sector partnerships as part of reimagining the future of development cooperation. While sector leaders welcome the conference’s intention to convene a range of actors, including Global Majority civil society leaders, to address complex global challenges, they warn that the success of the conference will depend on what follows it. 

In the statement, the 82 INGO leaders urge that any partnerships that emerge from the conference, particularly those with new partners in the private and technology sectors, are grounded in strong human rights and democratic values, alongside environmental and accountability standards.  

The INGO leaders also call attention to the context of widespread cuts to international aid budgets – including by the UK – in which the conference takes place, and welcome the opportunity to reflect on how UK aid can be used most effectively to tackle poverty and inequality. They caution that while private finance can play an important and complementary role, it cannot be a substitute for ODA, especially when responding to humanitarian crises and supporting those facing extreme poverty. 

Finally, with the UK set to host the G20 next year, the statement calls on the UK government to heed Majority World countries’ calls and set out a vision of how it plans to take bolder action on reforms to the current international financial system – to address challenges such as unsustainable debt, corporate tax avoidance, illicit financial flows and unfair trade rules. These reforms are essential to enabling Majority World countries to achieve their own development goals and would also benefit the UK at no cost to the ordinary UK taxpayer. 

Romilly Greenhill, CEO of Bond, the UK network for NGOs, said:   

“In an increasingly volatile world, with deepening inequality and escalating conflict worldwide, there is an urgent need for coordinated action to fight these global challenges.  

We recognise the conference organisers’ efforts to strengthen cross-sector collaboration, and call on them to now urgently turn rhetoric into reality: by setting out their long-term plans to foster genuine partnerships, and build an international system that is fit for all.  

It is vital that Majority World stakeholders, including civil society, play an active role in decision-making, and that the conference champions inclusive and locally led development, and lays the groundwork for meaningful engagement on much-needed reforms to the international financial system. 

The conference presents a critical moment for the UK to demonstrate its progressive leadership and set the tone for its wider international engagement – including its ambitions for its upcoming G20 presidency.” 

Patrick Watt, CEO of Christian Aid, said: 

“Extreme poverty, and its underlying causes, are too big and urgent to belong to any one institution or sector. So it’s welcome that the UK Government is hosting, alongside South Africa, the Global Partnerships Conference. 

Christian Aid has worked in partnership for many decades, with faith actors, wider civil society, and the private sector. We know from experience that diverse coalitions are needed to address the drivers of poverty and exclusion, from conflict and climate change to gender inequality. 

However, partnership is not a substitute for leadership, and in the aftermath of swingeing aid cuts, private finance is not a panacea. The poorest countries face a perfect storm of unsustainable debt, increasing poverty, and climate-related emergencies, which can only be tackled by governments working across borders. 

The conference needs to harness the different strengths of the actors gathered in London, to spur international cooperation on these urgent issues, and generate support for locally led solutions to the root causes of poverty.” 

Martin Hartberg, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s UK Director, said:  

“The Global Partnerships Conference must prove its relevance where it is hardest: in places with no credible or functioning government to partner with and little market incentive to invest. That is where needs are greatest. Governments must commit to bridging the chasm between skyrocketing needs and plummeting aid budgets, and shift their assumptions about risk to support the world’s most neglected crises.” 

ENDS. 

Notes to Editors: 

1. The full statement, signed by 82 NGOs, is available to read here.  

2. At the OECD International Development Conference in Paris on 12th May, the UK government alongside Australia, the Netherlands and Spain endorsed a ‘Call to Action’ urging other donors to recommit to locally led development. Bond has also signed up to this alongside a coalition of civil society organisations calling for the implementation of the OECD Guidelines for Supporting Locally Led Development and for renewed commitment to equitable, rights-based, locally led partnerships.  

3. Bond unites and supports a diverse network of over 330 civil society organisations from across the UK, and allies to help eradicate global poverty, inequality and injustice.  

4. For further information or interviews, please get in touch with Emily Loynes at [email protected] or 07909947850