Last November, the UK published the International Development White Paper which set out our agenda to re-energise progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, including the central aim of eliminating extreme poverty. To this end, the UK has committed to spend at least 50 per cent of our bilateral ODA in the Least Developed Countries by 2030.

Our goal, as set out in the White Paper, is to help countries transform the productivity of their economies at a pace sufficient to meet the needs of their growing populations, mobilise investment, provide quality jobs and deliver quality public services for their citizens.

The International Development White Paper sets out the UK's agenda to re-energise progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, including the central aim of eliminating extreme poverty. To this end, the UK aims to spend at least 50 per cent of our bilateral ODA in the Least Developed Countries.

The FCDO has developed two new programmes that will measure and assess literacy rates, among other objectives. The Scaling Access and Learning in Education programme will help transform the effectiveness of education spending in low- and lower middle-income countries and improve learning outcomes, including on literacy. The Data for Foundational Learning Programme will help track children's learning outcomes globally; generate more learning data nationally; and ensure these data are used.

We are making good progress against the Global Health Framework, which outlines the UK's work on Global Health to support a positive impact on health and wellbeing and thus life expectancy. For example, we announced £5 million of additional funding to TB Alliance to support more effective drug resistant treatment with fewer side effects and £370 million to strengthen global health security at United Nations General Assembly September 2023.

Furthermore, the FCDO is committed to improving the effectiveness of all UK aid. FCDO's Programme Operating Framework maximises the impact of aid through consideration of economy, efficiency, effectiveness and equity. Programmes undergo an annual review of effectiveness, using a results framework. These are published to the Development Tracker website (https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk), which further supports aid effectiveness by providing information to inform other donors spending decisions.

The UK is firmly committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)s and the fundamental principle to 'Leave No one Behind'. The International Development White Paper sets out how we will reinvigorate progress on the Goals and work with partners to address the interlinked challenges of poverty, climate change and biodiversity loss. The UK will prioritise its Official Development Assistance (ODA) where it is most needed and most effective, aiming to spend 50 per cent of all bilateral ODA in the least developed countries. We are increasing our support for the poorest and most vulnerable, including plans to nearly double our aid allocations to low-income countries in 2024-25.

International development in a contested world, the International Development White Paper, sets out our strategic goal, to end extreme poverty and tackle climate change and biodiversity loss, and how the UK can accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, through to 2030. The FCDO will set out how it is delivering the White Paper through existing departmental planning processes, including the Outcome Delivery Plan and the Annual Report and Accounts.

International development in a contested world, the International Development White Paper, sets out our strategic goal, to end extreme poverty and tackle climate change and biodiversity loss, and how the UK can accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, through to 2030. The FCDO will set out how it is delivering the White Paper through existing departmental planning processes, including the Outcome Delivery Plan and the Annual Report and Accounts.

The strategic goal of the new UK International Development White Paper [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-development-in-a-contested-world-ending-extreme-poverty-and-tackling-climate-change] is to end extreme poverty and tackle climate change and biodiversity loss. Poverty reduction is at the heart of all ODA spend, as such, all Blue Planet Fund (BPF) programmes factor poverty reduction into their design and implementation. We produce and publish annual reviews for all BPF programmes assessing their performance. Alongside Defra, who are the HMG strategic lead for the BPF, we will use the recent ICAI recommendations to strengthen the BPF programme portfolio's coherence, effectiveness, and relevance, including its poverty impacts at portfolio and individual programme level.

Due to the impact of the pandemic on public finances, the government took the difficult decision to temporarily reduce the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget from 0.7 per cent of gross national income (GNI) to 0.5 per cent. We will return to spending 0.7 per cent of GNI on ODA when, on a sustainable basis, the government is not borrowing for day-to-day spending and underlying debt is falling. The UK remains a champion for international development and one of the most generous global aid donors, spending nearly £12.8 billion in aid in 2022.

While the reduction of the UK's ODA budget means some ODA programmes needed to be changed or stopped, it is not possible to attribute the impact of the reduction on changing global poverty levels.

The UK's aid spending is crucial for delivering on our re-energised international development agenda set out in the White Paper on International Development, including eliminating extreme poverty, tackling climate change and biodiversity loss, and accelerating progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, but we recognise that ODA alone will not be enough to deliver our goals. That is why we are being innovative, creative and bold about all of the ways we can support global progress - from increasing private investment in development to getting the most from research and technology.

In the 2023/24 financial year, the UK committed £28.1 million of humanitarian aid to displaced people in South Sudan. In 2022/23, our UK Government funding provided emergency food aid for an estimated 193,106 people and daily water and sanitation provision for 83,311 people. We also fund crucial education and health programmes that deliver services to the most vulnerable.

(a) It is not possible to identify all UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocated to projects related to poverty reduction from information FCDO holds. Expenditure on development assistance (as defined in the International Development Act 2002) requires Ministers to be satisfied that the assistance is likely to contribute to a reduction in poverty. There is no express requirement for consideration of a reduction in poverty for expenditure on humanitarian assistance, though in many cases humanitarian assistance may also contribute to poverty reduction.

Table 1 sets out total FCDO ODA spend and the amount spent on humanitarian assistance from 2019 - 2022. This is likely to be an underestimate of all UK ODA allocated to projects related to poverty reduction as it doesn't include any relevant ODA spend by other government departments.

(b)

Ending violence against women and girls overseas remains a top priority for the Government. Table 2 shows UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend on tackling violence against women and girls. This is likely to be an underestimate as some humanitarian and other sectoral programmes also work to prevent and respond to violence but are not captured in these figures.

Table 2: UK ODA to Sector Code 15180: Ending violence against women and girls, 2019 - 2022 (£ thousands)

The World Bank has helped protect farmers, local production, and food security in developing countries. Its agricultural investment policies have helped to boost food and nutrition security and support vulnerable households, from increasing market access for smallholder farmers, to investing in green fertiliser production and supporting the adoption of climate-smart agriculture practices. The UK supports the World Bank's goals and we are holding the Bank to account through the Board. We are complementing, in support of developing countries, a transition to sustainable agriculture production through UK aid programmes like the Commercial Agriculture for Smallholders and Agribusiness programme and by contributing to multi-donor and multilateral funds such as the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme. Together with the World Bank, the UK also convenes a Policy Dialogue on Accelerating Transition to Sustainable Agriculture through redirecting public policies and support and scaling innovation.

I welcome the written ministerial statement on the international development White Paper, although an oral statement to the House would have been better. How does my right hon. Friend the Minister intend to achieve the consensual approach that is clearly his aspiration for international development, and does he agree, having heard many examples this morning, that nutrition and combating hunger must be at the heart of any strategy?

British International Investment's (BII) investments are scrutinised by independent evaluators through the FCDO-BII Evaluation and Learning Programme.

Each sector evaluation includes analysis of the poverty alleviation and gender impact. Recommendations for improving impact and BII responses are published on FCDO's and BII's website. A multi-sector evaluation is currently under way, which includes a review of BII's healthcare portfolio.

In addition, BII commissions and publishes its own case studies, evaluations, and evidence reviews to help better understand the impact of its investments. Relevant case studies and evaluations include the impact of access to finance for healthcare facilities in Kenya [https://www.bii.co.uk/en/news-insight/insight/articles/what-is-the-impact-of-improved-access-to-finance-for-healthcare-facilities-in-kenya/] and investing for impact in India [https://assets.bii.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/06212044/Investing-for-impact-in-India_BII.pdf].

The FCDO Prosperity Fund is closed so does not apply to our Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocations.

The global crisis of malnutrition threatens the lives of 200 million people. Will the Development Minister look to support my early-day motion 951, which seeks to welcome the Bridgetown agenda, which will transform the mission, the model and the money in the global finance development architecture? Now is not the time for half measures.

The FCDO has considered the impact of Official Development Assistance (ODA) pressures across the whole of the FCDO ODA budget, including on humanitarian work.

The UK has been instrumental in establishing a social protection system in Zambia which will reach one third of households by next year. This programme specifically targets vulnerable children through its focus on child-headed and women-headed households, and supports climate adaptation for the most vulnerable. FCDO also supports the UN to provide improved nutrition, focused on the first 1000 days of life, to break the cycle of poverty.

Under the UK-Zambia Green Growth Compact, we increased our support for small and medium-sized businesses in Zambia, because jobs and economic opportunities are the best route out of poverty for young people.

People in developing, lower-income, fragile and conflict affected states are disproportionately affected by climate change, especially those in marginalised groups such as women, people with disabilities and young people. The UK is committed to delivering an inclusive approach to climate and nature action. During our Presidency of COP26, countries agreed to a new Work Programme on Action for Climate Empowerment, promoting youth engagement and education. Through our International Climate Finance programming, we have directly helped 95,000,000 people to adapt to climate change since 2011, including children and young people. The UK will continue to support countries as they put climate risk at the centre of decision making.