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Merging DFID with Foreign Office 'bad news for global poverty'


Christine Allen

Christine Allen

Today (16 June) Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a massive reshaping of Britain's foreign policy by merging the Department for International Development with the Foreign Office under the leadership of the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab.Johnson said: "Distinctions between diplomacy and overseas development are artificial and outdated."

While the government says it will maintain its statutory commitment to spending 0.7% of gross national income on overseas aid, critics say the move will mean aid is linked to the UK's security and commercial interests.

Reacting to the news, Christine Allen, director of CAFOD, said: "The Prime Minister's announcement on maximising British influence through aid is seriously misguided. We believe the aid budget's sole focus should be on helping the world's poorest people, and that is how Britain will get the respect of other countries and their people. Our support for our brothers and sisters living in poverty shouldn't be contingent on what we as Britain can get out of it - we must have a clear distinction between our aid budget and money spent on British interests.

"The last few weeks have reminded us of the debt that Britain owes to many countries and communities, and our aid spending is one way we can help to support those communities as they tackle the effects of climate change, poverty and human rights abuses."

Daniel Willis, campaign manager for Global Justice Now said: "This is a terrible decision that takes us back two decades to when UK aid was subservient to the interests of British business. It's bad news for the fight against global poverty, and good news for suppliers of corporate drinks parties in foreign embassies.

"No-one who believes that UK aid can have a positive impact in the world thinks this is a good idea. Just last week, MPs urged the government to abandon this merger on the grounds that it would destroy the effectiveness and transparency of UK aid.

"This merger signals a conscious shift to a development model based on a hollowed out state that is forced to rely on corporate partners to function at home and abroad. DFID has been far from perfect, but its formal independence from the Foreign Office has offered some protection from aid money being treated as a slush fund for business interests. Now that's been swept away - Empire 2.0 here we come."

See also:

ICN 16 June 2020 - Christian Aid: Merger of DFID 'an act of political vandalism' www.indcatholicnews.com/news/39824

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