Following Global Partnerships Conference, Bond calls for sustained ambition on UK international development agenda
At the close of the Global Partnerships Conference, hosted by the UK government on 19-20 May, Bond is calling on the UK government to sustain momentum built at the conference and set out a clear vision for an equitable, inclusive international development agenda as it prepares to take up the G20 presidency next year.
Bond welcomes the UK Minister for International Development’s announcement of a new civil society programme: a welcome step towards shifting power in decision-making to local communities. We eagerly await details on how the programme will operate, particularly given limited funding, to ensure funds reach those who need it most. We also welcome the UK government’s signing of the Call to Action on the OECD Guidelines for Supporting Locally Led Development (LLD), as a signal of its commitment to equitable partnerships.
The Foreign Secretary also announced new ‘Communities of Expertise’, which will bring together UK private sector actors to support developing countries on major challenges. However, local communities understand their own needs better than any UK actor – and must be able to lead on seeking expertise from wherever they see fit, to develop context-specific and locally informed solutions to challenges like conflict and crisis. The UK and partners can best support this by championing much-needed reforms to the international financial system, which would give Majority World countries the fiscal and policy space to reach their own development goals.
The conference also saw the announcement of new initiatives to mobilise private finance for development. However, while private finance and the private sector can play a complementary role in sustainable development, they cannot be a substitute for UK aid, especially in contexts of extreme poverty, conflict, climate disasters and urgent humanitarian need.
We echo the Deputy Prime Minister in his call to redouble efforts to ensure countries can mobilise their own finances. As international aid budgets contract, the UK must champion reforms that tackle illicit financial flows and unsustainable debt, to help low- and middle-income countries build sustainable economies and deliver essential public services to their people.
Earlier this week, leaders from 82 INGOs, including Christian Aid, Oxfam GB, and Concern Worldwide UK, issued a statement calling on the UK government to step up its ambitions for an inclusive international development agenda that is rooted in genuine, equitable partnerships – and warned that the success of the conference will be judged on what follows it.
Romilly Greenhill, CEO of Bond, the UK network for NGOs, said:
“The Global Partnerships Conference has shown promise for a future of development cooperation that is locally led, equitable, and grounded in human rights and accountability standards. The challenge now is matching the conference’s ambition with transformative action: to embed locally designed and led approaches into the UK’s vision for its international development agenda, including for its G20 presidency.
This means ensuring that new ‘Communities of Expertise’ do not divert UK aid spend away from local communities towards UK private companies, or risk reinforcing Western-centric ideals and assumptions. It should also include stepping up to remove structural barriers that prevent Majority World countries achieving their own development goals.
In an increasingly volatile and conflict-affected world, we echo the Foreign Secretary’s assertion that change to the existing international development system is needed. However, this change can only come by sustaining UK aid, reforming international systems, and enabling Global Majority countries and civil society to lead on discussions that shape solutions to global challenges.”
ENDS.
Notes to Editors:
- The sector statement signed by 82 INGO leaders is available to read here.
- Bond echoes calls on the UK made by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) in its latest report, published Tuesday 19th May, to give clarity on key aspects of its approach to international development: including how it will deliver development outcomes effectively amid constrained resources, and rising global need.
- For further information or interviews, please contact Emily Loynes on [email protected] or 07909947850
- 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.
