London, UK, October 30, 2024 — Khusbu Patel, interim Executive Director, International Rescue Committee UK, said,
"In the Autumn Budget today, the government missed the opportunity to protect the already strained aid budget. With UK aid spending projected to fall even further, failing to act today will significantly impact almost 300 million people in need of humanitarian assistance around the world.
The pressures of domestic refugee costs will mean there is less Official Development Assistance for helping children recover from malnutrition, protecting people from gender-based violence, and saving the lives of mothers during childbirth.
We urge the government to concentrate UK Aid towards communities experiencing conflict, crisis and instability, so we can ensure every pound delivers maximum impact for both the UK taxpayer and people in need."
Notes to editors:
- Analysis conducted by the Bond Network and released in October 2024 suggested that UK Aid spend will fall to its lowest level since 2007 unless the government took action in the Autumn Budget.
- A joint public statement was released on 18th September 2024 signed by 122 leaders of the UK’s largest NGOs, including International Rescue Committee UK, ActionAid UK, Oxfam GB, CARE International UK and Save the Children UK, expressing deep concern about this analysis and urging the government to take action against this in the Autumn Budget.