Real World Consequences of UK Aid Cuts Laid Bare

Statement by Harpinder Collacott, Europe Executive Director for Mercy Corps

The severe consequences of UK aid cuts for people facing humanitarian crisis were revealed by the International Development Committee’s publication today of the FCDO’s own assessments of the impact of cuts to UK aid. 

Harpinder Collacott, Europe Executive Director for Mercy Corps, says:

“There is no doubt that sustained aid reductions will cost lives. If enacted, proposed cuts to the development budget mean that, by the FCDO’s own estimate, 3,000 children could die in South Sudan and 350,000 people in Ethiopia will not receive emergency cash or food assistance. This couldn’t come at a worse time as the need for lifesaving assistance has reached unprecedented levels in countries and regions plagued by conflict, fallout from climate change and economic instability worsened by the war in Ukraine.”

“These cuts fly in the face of the UK’s historic commitment to global leadership in providing aid assistance and I urge the UK government not to abdicate its responsibility to mitigate a worsening global humanitarian catastrophe at this critical time. Failing a return to .7% for Official Development Assistance and a continued boom or bust approach to international aid, we will bear continued witness to lives lost and irreversible repercussions.”

For more information, please contact:

Alexandra Bingham, Media and Communications Officer
abingham@mercycorps.org / +44 (0)7551 425 460