In response to a civil servants’ report on overseas aid cuts, Kate Munro, Head of Advocacy, said:
“Cuts to the UK aid budget have reduced the credibility and nimbleness of the country to respond to rising global hunger rates.
“Conflict is raging in countries like Yemen, whilst climate change is fuelling catastrophic weather events globally, including the intense flooding in South Sudan – both factors are key causes of hunger. It is women and young children who are paying the price; 43 per cent of young child deaths globally are due to a lack of food, whilst women are often last to eat round the dinner table because of gender inequalities.
“We welcome the commitment that Andrew Mitchell MP, as Minister for International Development, is showing to tackling hunger and malnutrition. However, living up to this ambition at a time when humanitarian needs are rising depends on renewing the UK’s commitment to spending 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income on aid.
“The government also needs to see costs of housing refugees as additional to overseas aid spend.
“Turning the tide on global hunger in the long-term requires a joined up foreign and domestic policy. Whilst we undoubtedly need humanitarian aid to treat people affected by hunger and malnutrition right now, we should also be looking at ways to prevent hunger in the longer-term; this includes investment in preparing communities for future climate shocks, drastic cuts to our own greenhouse gas emissions, and meeting our international climate finance commitments – which are additional to overseas aid.”