The government will soon publish a new aid strategy that looks set to prioritise trade and investment over poverty reduction. Join us in fighting back
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Hi John,
The government will soon publish a new aid strategy that looks set to prioritise trade and investment over poverty reduction. Join us in fighting back.
Next month the foreign secretary Liz Truss is set to publish a new International Development Strategy which will set the direction of UK aid spending for years to come.
For too long, we have seen this government redirecting aid away from the world’s most marginalised communities and into the pockets of the private sector.
In December, the foreign secretary gave an indication that the new strategy will focus on trade, investment and “economic partnerships”. There was not one mention of climate change, global public health or food security.
As Truss herself would say, that is a disgrace!
For over 50 years, we have campaigned for a development budget that supports the needs of the many, rather creating more opportunities for the wealthiest few. As the government prepares to go further in the wrong direction, it’s vital we keep standing up for what’s right.
Join us in calling on the government to stop hijacking aid for the benefit of the private sector and British businesses.
Sign our petition ([link removed])
** The corporate hijack of aid
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We’ve reported regularly on the many ways in which aid has been used in recent years to divert funds to the private sector and support the needs of British businesses over the world’s most marginalised communities.
This includes:
* Billions given to the UK development bank CDC Group to invest in private businesses and equity funds
* Support for unaffordable, for-profit schools and hospitals that exclude lower income groups
* Money spent in countries and sectors which UK businesses hope to profit from
* Hundreds of millions spent in consultancy and research fees with big accountancy firms
Rather than tackling these issues with the existing use of aid, this new strategy seems set to make them worse.
Join us in calling for a new approach to aid that is rooted in solidarity and justice.
Sign the petition today ([link removed])
** We have won before
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In the 1990s, we challenged the government’s attempts to use aid in this way in court, and we won.
The UK was diverting aid to Malaysia to construct a hugely costly dam on the condition that the Malaysian military would buy arms from UK companies. After numerous protests and a court case, the funding was deemed unlawful.
That’s why we need to keep fighting and raising our voices to oppose this misuse of aid together.
In solidarity,
Daniel Willis
Finance campaigner at Global Justice Now
**
Can you help stop the corporate hijack of the aid budget?
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Aid should be spent tackling poverty and inequality – instead it's supporting big business and lining private pockets.
Regular gifts give us the long-term stability to plan effective campaigns, exposing those who seek to profit from the UK’s aid budget or pushing back against development funds being used to privatise public services in the global south.
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