During a G7 virtual meeting in February 2021, the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, pledged to donate the surplus COVID-19 vaccines in his country to poorer nations, failing to specify when this may possibly happen. The declaration was made just two-weeks before leaked reports revealed Foreign Office officials discussing dramatic aid cuts for some countries.
The UK has ordered over 400 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines produced by different companies which means it has sufficient to vaccinate its entire population 3.6 times. Amongst rich countries, only Canada has ordered more, being able to vaccinate its population five times. The UK government has stressed that it is planning to distribute half of the excess doses it has, amongst underdeveloped countries through the COVAX scheme, led by the UN. So far, the British government has donated £548 million to COVAX but while developed states have secured an excess number of doses, in 130 countries vaccinations have yet to even start. Nevertheless, campaigners who advocate for fairer access to COVID-19 vaccines for all countries point out that British government has so far only made a declaration with no further details as to when the surplus doses may start to be distributed.
At the same time, the UK government has made the decision to cut development assistance to Yemen which is now affected by a humanitarian catastrophe and many aid organizations predict that without an urgent increase in funds many people will die of starvation there this year. The aid will be cut by as much as 59% which means that Yemen will receive no more than £87m while in previous years the annual amount of aid was £164m. This decision was made at the worst possible time as the humanitarian situation in Yemen continues to deteriorate due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing hostilities, and climate shocks, thus the humanitarian needs of this Middle Eastern country have dramatically increased.
Furthermore, recent leaks from the UK Foreign Office reveal that the government discussed the possible cut of development aid by more than 50% with the poorest nations being most affected. According to internal reports which were published by investigative website openDemocracy, which revealed the leaks, the UK administration is planning to slash aid to Somalia by 60%, South Sudan by 59%, Syria by 67%, Libya by 63%, Nigeria by 58%, the Democratic Republic of Congo by 60% and the western Balkans by 50%. The British Foreign Office did not comment the allegations.
The total amount of funding for Sahel countries, provided by the UK, will probably be £23m whereas previously it has been £340m. This radical cut will also mean that the UK will no longer be able to meet the official ODA target of 0.7% of Gross National Income. If the government cuts the development aid by over 50% as planned, the UK will meet only 0.5% of the ODA target.
See also: The fight over aid in Britain
Over 100 different UK charity organizations have strongly condemned the government’s decision towards Yemen but the administration has stressed that the cuts are dictated by the economic crisis triggered by the global outbreak which has also impacted Great Britain and thus the government was forced to adjust its budget. If the recent leaks are confirmed, the total amount of British development aid will be cut from £15bn to £10bn within two years.
