Practical Action has joined more than a hundred other development organisations and charities across the UK to call for a rethink over the decision by the Prime Minister to cut the aid budget.
The decision to reduce spending on the world’s poorest people will cost the lives of people living on the frontline of climate change.
The cuts were announced by the Prime Minister on February 25. They will take overseas development spending to its lowest level, in real terms, for 25 years.
UK Aid has supported numerous transformational projects implemented by Practical Action in recent years, including peacebuilding in Sudan and climate change adaptation programmes in Bangladesh, Nepal and Zimbabwe.
Currently, the UK Government is funding several of Practical Action’s important programmes across the world, including one critical project to protect and restore biodiversity and livelihoods in the Andes Amazon region of Peru and Ecuador. This ambitious programme represents a key component of the UK Government’s climate change adaptation commitments made at COP 27 in Glasgow.
While it is not yet known what the impact on UK Government funded projects will be, Practical Action is calling for UK ministers to confirm there will be continued funding for programmes already committed to.
Rachel Hudson, director of fundraising, marketing and communications at Practical Action, said:
“We recognise that increases in defence spending at this time are necessary, but the decision to do this at the expense of the world’s poorest people is deeply unjust and goes against a promise made in the Labour Party manifesto.
“Should the Government refuse to reconsider, then it should think carefully about how any cuts are made.
“It is vital to honour any existing funding commitments so that the people who have been promised help and support receive it, particularly in the wake of the abrupt and damaging cuts to USAID funded programmes in recent weeks.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank our supporters, whose donations give us the resilience and flexibility to navigate through these uncertain times and continue to support the most vulnerable people on the front line of climate change. Without their generosity, even more people would suffer.
“To create a more just and equitable world in the long term, people must have the skills, tools and knowhow to earn a living and make good decisions, even in the face of global problems, such as climate change, pandemics and natural disasters.
“We have joined with other organisations to make this call because we believe that without investing in development, we will end up spending more on the long-term consequences of global social inequalities, which results in civil wars, failed states, displacement and, ultimately, human misery.”
Practical Action is a signatory to a letter sent to the Prime Minister by Bond, the organisation which represents international development organisations in the UK. You can view the letter here.
You can find out who your MP is here. Please consider writing to them to give them your views on the announcement of overseas development spending cuts.