UK’s aid engagement with China across all of government dropped from £80 million to an estimated £8.2 million between 2019 and 2023-2024, with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) – mostly through the British Council – and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) continuing to spend aid there, a report by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) says.
But the ICAI raises concerns about the transparency of the remaining spend.
In the report, the watchdog notes that while there have been efforts to improve transparency in some areas, it has worsened around the ‘administration costs’ of running aid programmes and other development activities, for which ICAI was unable to get an up-to-date figure.
With China expected to graduate from being eligible for official development assistance (ODA) in the near future, ICAI also pointed out a lack of clear planning on how the government’s priorities in the country will be funded after this happens.
It’s one of those “alleviate suffering” issues, which unfortunately doesn’t always hit as intended.
You can have a rich country where 80% of the population is doing OK, but aid to the remaining 20% living in poverty because they’re not getting help is appreciated. (Objective One funding Cornwall, for example).
And when the aid just kinda arrives in the destination country, and that’s it, no info on what it got used for, people do sometimes ask questions like “this country has a space program, why are we still sending them money to improve sanitation?”
The intent is to help people at the bottom (and curry favor).