Welcome 👋 to our latest edition of Development Directions ➡️- Jonusta’s newsletter on the international development space.
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2021 has flown by, with Xmas just around the corner. There were high hopes that British Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, would take the chill out of the UK Aid budget when he presented the Autumn Budget and 3-year Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR21) on 26th October 2021.
UKAid Medium Term Spending Priorities 🏆
It’s been a rocky 12 months for the UK Aid sector: set against the COVID pandemic and resulting economic chaos in the Global South, the period saw DFID merged into FCDO, UKAid slashed to 0.5% of GNI with deep cuts to programming, and tragic events such as the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban and the insecurity in Ethiopia and Sudan. Industry observers had hoped the CSR would quickly return UKAid levels to the 0.7% GNI target but it appears that it won’t be until FY24/25 that this happens (and even this is not guaranteed).
FCDO’s annual budget allocation to FY24/25 is highlighted above . Given that UK ODA is also spent by other UK Government departments (such as DEFRA and the Home Office) CSR21 provides a total of £11.4 billion of ODA in 2022-23, £11.8 billion in 2023-24, and £12.3 billion in 2024-25. This will support the delivery of the UK’s development priorities, including women and girls, COVID vaccination, humanitarian assistance, clean and green infrastructure financing, nature, and tackling climate change. Further details on the outlook for UKAid are on page 103 to 105 in the CSR doc and given the recent COP26 conference, you might be interested in ODI’s assessment of CSR21 on climate action. See also a link to FCDO future commercial pipeline which contains details on future UKAID projects all the way to 2024.
💡 Powering Up USAID 💡
Samantha Power, head of the United States Agency for International Development, wants to succeed where others have fallen short in terms of localising U.S. foreign aid funding to local organizations.
Amb. Power delivered her “New Vision for USAID” at Georgetown University on 4th November 2021 (which was marked the 60th anniversary of USAID’s creation). A very timely address as it provided some key positioning messages to Congress ahead of the upcoming federal budget negotiations. Some key takeaways:
The US (& the World) are increasingly dealing with ‘problems without passports’ such as climate change and rising global inequality
These require new ways of doing things. Partner coalitions need to be broader, more inclusive, focus has to be on marginalised groups and international development needs to be more responsive.
USAID will respond by increasing funding to local partners - the target is 25% of USAID funds to local partners in the next 5 years. The current level is 6% so this will be interesting to watch.
USAID will also increase programmes that address gender equality and will increase programmes that engage “local voices” in design (through co-creation) and evaluation.
The diversity of USAID staff will be increased through new recruitment and retention initiatives and their capability to manage grants strengthened.
WorkwithUSAID.gov - an online portal with training videos on how to work with USAID will be rolled out and a new office on behavioral economics will be established.
The full video of Amb Power’s speech is here & if you want to delve more, the American Foreign Service Association has a good anniversary review of USAID’s founding and evolution, as well as its shortcomings and accomplishments.
📚 What are we reading?
How much longer can humanity continue with current economic systems that emphasize growth at all costs? Unforeseen financial crises. Extreme wealth inequality. Relentless pressure on the environment. Can we go on like this & is there an alternative? The circular economy is not a new concept but Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics is a timely and refreshing take on the shortcomings of our current economic systems and radical re-envisioning of a system that can meet all our needs without exhausting the planet.
🕵️♀️ In case you missed it
Podcasts:
Raka Banerjee and Paul Blake examine Climate Change on the great Development Podcast from the World Bank Group.
Dr. Joseph Atick, Executive Chairman of ID4Africa, and Alan Gelb, CGD Senior Fellow, join Gyude on the Center for Global Development podcast to discuss the evolution of ID systems across Africa, the benefits and risks of digital ID systems, and what African governments can learn from countries like India about what works and what doesn’t.
Afrobility on how Safeboda is delivering mobility services across Africa
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❤️ from Team Jonusta
Quite informative. Thanks for the share.