Responding to the launch of the development white paper, Hannah Bond, Co-Director of Policy, Advocacy and Programmes at ActionAid UK, says:
“While the Government might see the White Paper as a step towards restoring its global reputation, it is clear there is a long way to go.
"As a first step, the Government must ensure that official development assistance (ODA) is spent primarily tackling poverty and inequality outside of the UK. In 2022, a staggering 29% of the ODA budget was spent inside the UK. We must see this trend reversed, otherwise women and girls in some of the world’s most fragile countries will continue to pay the price of escalating Home Office incompetence.
“Without progress towards the fulfillment of women and girls’ rights, we cannot hope to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. We welcome, therefore, the Government’s focus on women and girls and the need to tackle the devastating ‘rollback’ in women’s rights from Afghanistan to the United States.
“But we must walk the talk – the Government cannot credibly claim to be a champion of women’s rights on the global stage while at home it does all it can to deny asylum and refuge to women fleeing persecution and crisis.
“The Government must now ensure its funding is transparent and fully meets the needs of women and girls by resourcing and supporting women’s rights organisations and girl-led groups that are on the front-line of some of the world’s most pressing challenges.
“The launch of this white paper comes as the UK Government co-hosts a global Food Security Summit in London, it should not escape us that food security is far from a reality for those in Gaza experiencing some of the worst humanitarian crisis we have seen. The UK Government must look across its policy areas and connect them: food security in Gaza will not be realised until there is a ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian access.”
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