The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is prioritising Official Development Assistance (ODA) where humanitarian needs are most acute - to reach those in greatest need and reduce the harm caused by violence and atrocities, including in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan. With greater instability, humanitarian need growing, and poverty becoming more concentrated in places affected by conflict, we are increasing the proportion of spending in fragile and conflict affected states by around 13 percentage points to over 70 per cent of all FCDO country and regional spending by 2028/29, and will spend £1.4 billion per year in countries with the most humanitarian need over this Spending Review period. With this support, we want to see increased allocation of humanitarian resources to cost-effective, localised delivery mechanisms; and a more streamlined, prioritised and efficient multilateral humanitarian system.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is prioritising Official Development Assistance (ODA) where humanitarian needs are most acute - to reach those in greatest need and reduce the harm caused by violence and atrocities, including in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan. With greater instability, humanitarian need growing, and poverty becoming more concentrated in places affected by conflict, we are increasing the proportion of spending in fragile and conflict affected states by around 13 percentage points to over 70 per cent of all FCDO country and regional spending by 2028/29, and will spend £1.4 billion per year in countries with the most humanitarian need over this Spending Review period. With this support, we want to see increased allocation of humanitarian resources to cost-effective, localised delivery mechanisms; and a more streamlined, prioritised and efficient multilateral humanitarian system.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is prioritising Official Development Assistance (ODA) where humanitarian needs are most acute - to reach those in greatest need and reduce the harm caused by violence and atrocities, including in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan. With greater instability, humanitarian need growing, and poverty becoming more concentrated in places affected by conflict, we are increasing the proportion of spending in fragile and conflict affected states by around 13 percentage points to over 70 per cent of all FCDO country and regional spending by 2028/29, and will spend £1.4 billion per year in countries with the most humanitarian need over this Spending Review period. With this support, we want to see increased allocation of humanitarian resources to cost-effective, localised delivery mechanisms; and a more streamlined, prioritised and efficient multilateral humanitarian system.

The UK is providing £146 million in aid to Sudan this financial year (FY26/27), providing life-saving assistance to nearly 2 million people affected by the conflict. The UN's 'Sudan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan 2026' provides an overall assessment of humanitarian needs throughout the country with details of financial requirements across 12 sectors (education, health, nutrition, emergency shelter etc.) All of the UK's humanitarian funding to Sudan in FY 26/27 is targeted at needs identified by the UN in its Sudan response plan. UK funding is provided to a range of partners - UN and non-UN - who are working to alleviate suffering in Sudan, including local responders operating in the hardest to reach areas.

The noble Lord is absolutely right. This is not particularly a challenge with money; last week, the international community rallied together and raised more than £1 billion to spend on aid for the people of Sudan. As he rightly says, it is how we get that aid to the people who need it most. We are doubling the amount that we spend with local responders, because often they are the right people and the best people to co-ordinate in the most effective way on the ground. It is vital that the warring parties in Sudan, and anyone who is obstructing access for aid, stops doing that immediately. It has almost become competitive, to see who can put the most restrictions on agencies, which are hoping to get aid to where it is needed. It is completely wrong—the aid is there and the resources are there, and we just need the ability to get access.

Last week at the international Sudan conference in Berlin, the Foreign Secretary announced £146 million of new humanitarian funding for Sudan this year, which will reach nearly 2 million people. This includes doubling UK support for local Sudanese responders delivering vital aid in the hardest-to-reach areas. But funding alone cannot solve this manmade crisis, and that is why the Foreign Secretary joined participants in urgently pushing for an immediate ceasefire and for every possible tool to be used to improve humanitarian access to get aid in.

I refer the Noble Lord to the statements made by the Foreign Secretary and myself - UIN HLWS1431 - on 19 March outlining the UK's Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocations for the period up to 2028-29, and to the accompanying documents setting out the detail of those allocations. Funding for specific organisations over the period in question will be confirmed in due course.

The UK is committed to putting women and girls at the heart of everything we do, including our development spending. The Foreign Secretary recently announced that women and girls will be a central theme across all the FCDO's work - including development. She also announced a new target that at least 90 per cent of our bilateral Official Development Assistance programmes will have a focus on women and girls by 2030.

I refer the Hon Member to the statement made to the House by the Foreign Secretary on 19 March outlining the UK's Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocations for the period up to 2028-29, HLWS1431, and the accompanying documentation setting out the impact of those allocation decisions. I also refer him to the evidence provided by the Foreign Secretary and I to the International Development Committee on 24 March, where we addressed questions at length about the Government's ODA policies and allocation decision: https://committees.parliament.uk/event/26907/formal-meeting-oral-evidence-session/.

We strongly support the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator's plans, set out in his 11 March letter, to regroup, reform and renew the humanitarian system. We want to see a more localised, prioritised, efficient and effective humanitarian system. We are continually looking to improve the effectiveness of our official development assistance programmes.

The table below shows UK ODA funding in 2023 and 2024 provided to the International Committee of the Red Cross, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The figures do not capture funding to Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement organisations where they are a partner further down the delivery chain.

Figures for 2025 will be published in due course.

The allocations in question will be set out in the coming months, and we will confirm details of that planned announcement in the normal way in due course.

Data on Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend for 2023 and 2024 is published in Statistics on International Development (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-international-development-final-uk-oda-spend-2024), including breakdowns by country, sector, and type of aid.

Table 1 below shows UK ODA funding provided to Sudan through bilateral humanitarian assistance in 2023 and 2024. Table 2 shows ODA spent in the UK in the same years. Figures for 2025 and 2026 will be published in the usual way in due course.

Table 1. Humanitarian ODA to Sudan, 2023 and 2024

Source: Statistics on International Development: Final UK ODA spend 2024

Table 2. ODA Spent in the UK, 2023 and 2024

Note 1. In-donor expenditure includes an estimate of the ODA-eligible part of FCDO's and other departments' administration costs, refugees living in the UK spend, raising development awareness and costs of UK experts and UK scholarships.

Source: Statistics on International Development: Final UK ODA spend 2024.

Data on Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend for 2023 and 2024 is published in Statistics on International Development (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-international-development-final-uk-oda-spend-2024), including breakdowns by country, sector, and type of aid.

Table 1 below shows UK ODA funding provided to Sudan through bilateral humanitarian assistance in 2023 and 2024. Table 2 shows ODA spent in the UK in the same years. Figures for 2025 and 2026 will be published in the usual way in due course.

Table 1. Humanitarian ODA to Sudan, 2023 and 2024

Source: Statistics on International Development: Final UK ODA spend 2024

Table 2. ODA Spent in the UK, 2023 and 2024

Note 1. In-donor expenditure includes an estimate of the ODA-eligible part of FCDO's and other departments' administration costs, refugees living in the UK spend, raising development awareness and costs of UK experts and UK scholarships.

Source: Statistics on International Development: Final UK ODA spend 2024.

I refer the Noble Lord to the answer provided on 8 December in response to Question HL12253.

The table below shows UK funding provided to the World Health Organisation in the years 2023 and 2024, and Official Development Assistance (ODA) provided in those same years to support: (a) the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); (b) the United Nations Children's Fund; (c) Water Supply and Sanitation programmes; and (d) Humanitarian Aid.

Figures for 2025 and 2026 will be published in the normal way in due course.

The table below shows UK funding provided to the World Health Organisation in the years 2023 and 2024, and Official Development Assistance (ODA) provided in those same years to support: (a) the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); (b) the United Nations Children's Fund; (c) Water Supply and Sanitation programmes; and (d) Humanitarian Aid.

Figures for 2025 and 2026 will be published in the normal way in due course.

The table below shows UK funding provided to the World Health Organisation in the years 2023 and 2024, and Official Development Assistance (ODA) provided in those same years to support: (a) the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); (b) the United Nations Children's Fund; (c) Water Supply and Sanitation programmes; and (d) Humanitarian Aid.

Figures for 2025 and 2026 will be published in the normal way in due course.

The table below shows UK funding provided to the World Health Organisation in the years 2023 and 2024, and Official Development Assistance (ODA) provided in those same years to support: (a) the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); (b) the United Nations Children's Fund; (c) Water Supply and Sanitation programmes; and (d) Humanitarian Aid.

Figures for 2025 and 2026 will be published in the normal way in due course.