REACTION: Oxfam response to the latest global aid statistics from the OECD and the high-level statistics on provisional UK aid spend for 2021

“At a time of unprecedented global need, the UK should be meeting its promises to the world’s poorest people. Instead it has slashed its aid budget, risking the lives of thousands already struggling to survive in some of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

“In East Africa as many as 28 million people are at risk of severe hunger, yet Britain is cutting aid to several countries in the region by half or more.

“To make matters worse, the UK is also counting donations of unwanted vaccine doses as part of its already reduced foreign aid commitment.

“With the Ukraine crisis placing an additional demand on funds, the government needs to urgently boost the aid budget to meet the challenges of today.”

Ends

Notes to editors

• Oxfam responded to an OECD statement in February which says that countries will be able to count donations of unwanted vaccine doses as part of their foreign aid commitment.
• International Development Committee figures on cuts to aid in East Africa
• An Oxfam report warned today that over a quarter of a billion more people could be pushed into extreme poverty this year because of Covid-19, rising global inequality and food price rises supercharged by the war in Ukraine