Willem Van De Put’s Post

The proposed aid cuts by the United Kingdom and Germany are concerning for Africa, where many countries rely significantly on foreign assistance to bolster development and humanitarian efforts. These reductions could hinder progress in key areas such as healthcare, education, and infrastructure development. Additionally, they could negatively impact emergency responses to crises such as natural disasters and famines, often leaving vulnerable populations without the necessary support. We call on African nations to strengthen their domestic financing capabilities to enhance sustainable development. We also invite the private sector to engage in public-private partnerships, channelling investments into crucial areas like infrastructure, healthcare, and education. 

Some interesting reflections and experiences on the localization of humanitarian aid in the midst of a critical funding scenario and debates on the necessary readaptation of the sector.

The OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) recently unveiled early figures for 2023 Official Development Assistance (#ODA) spending by donor countries. In our latest blog post, Senior Associate, Nasim Salad has broken down the data to understand the latest trends in the UK’s development spending policy, revealing both progress and challenges. Here are four main take-aways from her analysis: 📈 UK #aid as a percentage of GNI rose to 0.58% in 2023, up from 0.51% in 2022. This is equivalent to an extra £2.6 billion in aid. The welcomed raise was expected as part of the 2022 Autumn Statement. 📊 In-donor refugee costs remained extremely high in 2023, with the government spending £4.3 billion towards them. Although this corresponds to 28% of the total ODA budget, what is striking is that it amounts to 44% of the entire bilateral budget, an increase of 6% from the previous year. 🇺🇳 Besides higher in-donor refugee costs, the UK’s contributions to #multilateral agencies also saw a significant increase, as they went from 25% of the ODA budget in 2022 to 36% in 2023. The raise brings back ODA spending through multilateral channels in line with the 2017-2021 levels. This is an important development considering the next round of multilateral replenishments is on the horizon. 🌐 Spending development aid at home has greatly impacted the capacity of the UK to assist lower- and middle- income countries. The amount of bilateral ODA to Africa has declined by 0.8%, to Asia by 33%, and to humanitarian assistance programmes by 20%. Read the full blog post to know what these statistics mean for the UK’s aid budget and recipient countries across the world. 📍https://lnkd.in/dfWF33Nx And don’t forget that you can still register for our upcoming training course on ODA. Follow the link to know how: https://lnkd.in/ea2P2H2u

Today, as part of Dóchas (the Irish Association of Non-Governmental Development Organisations), we are reminding the Irish Government that there is #NoTimeToLose when it comes to #Budget2025. We are calling on the Government to: ✔️ Make real progress towards spending 0.7% of gross national income on overseas aid by 2030… ✔️ By increasing the overseas aid budget by €292 million ✔️ Ensure 25% of all overseas aid is allocated to locally led initiatives that can deliver support directly to affected populations ✔️ Deliver our commitment of €225 million yearly in climate finance - at a minimum ✔️ Set a pathway to increase this allocation to Ireland’s fair share of €500 million a year There are nearly 300 million people around the world this year in need of humanitarian assistance. We must play our part.

Humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence. These principles must be upheld for humanitarian organisations working in disaster or conflict zones to save lives and relieve suffering. However, it has become increasingly complex to deliver aid in man-made disaster areas than in natural ones. Physical challenges aside, parties in conflict often define the boundaries of humanitarian operations and can hinder access, thus limiting the "humanitarian space" much needed by aid workers. In the name of humanity, the humanitarian space must be respected to allow aid to flow to civilians and vulnerable people caught in conflict around the world, say Abed Kayyal, Iman Parsa and Luk Van Wassenhove from INSEAD's Humanitarian Research Group. #humanitarianaid #humanitarianresearch INSEAD Humanitarian Research Group

The world is witnessing a sharp increase in internal displacement due to conflict and climate change, but the global humanitarian response is not keeping pace. Refugees International's recent research stresses the need for greater IDP engagement, improved coordination among aid actors, and stronger financial commitments to protect and assist displaced populations. With more than 75.9 million IDPs globally, addressing these challenges is crucial to finding sustainable, long-term solutions.

Today's must read is this article in The New Humanitarian on the tricky problem of improving the delivery of humanitarian aid to people inside #Myanmar. https://lnkd.in/eXpQ2N3x

Obligatory 'Five Take Aways' from The Labour Party Conference... On my way back from The Labour Party Conference in Liverpool - rain finally stopped (not that it dampened spirits) and trains running gloriously smoothly so I have a minute to reflect on a good couple of days. Here's my personal five takeaways (purely from my international development perch): 1. There is real energy around the opportunity of a new, progressive government with commitment to restoring the UK’s reputation in the world – a world free from poverty and a livable planet.  2. In Anneliese Dodds MP We have a Minister for International Development who is clearly excited by her portfolio, invested in developing as much knowledge and expertise as possible and committed to a new, ‘modern’ and impactful way of doing development.  3. There is a very large crop of MPs – both new and old – who are extremely committed to and expert in international development, humanitarian aid, and peacebuilding.  The fact that they bring first hand experience from NGO sector, military service or DFID work makes them not only passionate but smart and informed.  4. There’s no more money.  Not for the time being anyway.  Clearly the priority must be to ensure ODA spent on refugee hosting for the first year is brought down (not by reducing services but by vastly improving them).  But in the meantime we must do more with what ODA we have for international work.  With humanitarian need doubling in the past three years it is obvious we must respond to save lives today, but if we don’t invest urgently in peacebuilding and in climate mitigation and adaptation we are mopping the floor with the tap running. How can we do that on a constrained, and perhaps shrinking, budget?  This needs big ideas and new ways of working – but it also needs some ‘old’ ideas.     5. The voting public has gone quiet on this.  MPs repeatedly told us they are getting hundreds of emails a day on winter fuel but none on conflict, poverty and humanitarian crises – despite the devastating need we see across our TV screens.  Without this they will struggle to really champion the actions Britain needs to take to become the force for good in the world that we can be.  How can we make sure the public not only care, but are telling our elected representatives that we do? Dear reader, particularly if you are a UK voter, please take most note of point 5...  

Today's must read is this article in The New Humanitarian on the tricky problem of improving the delivery of humanitarian aid to people inside #Myanmar. https://lnkd.in/eXpQ2N3x

Today's must read is this article in The New Humanitarian on the tricky problem of improving the delivery of humanitarian aid to people inside #Myanmar. https://lnkd.in/eXpQ2N3x