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Overseas Aid

Question for Department for International Development

UIN HL6343, tabled on 14 March 2018

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to act on the proposal made by David Cameron, in his role as chairman of the Commission on State Fragility, Growth and Development, that nations who fail to meet "basic norms of governance", and whose leaders are corrupt, should not continue to be recipients of UK aid.

Answered on

27 March 2018

Strengthening governance, and tackling crime and corruption, is fundamental to poverty reduction overseas and promotes our national security at home. UK aid focuses on tackling poverty and building stability in developing countries, which includes combatting corruption and helping developing countries to build robust institutions and tax systems so they can stand on their own two feet. Where a government fails to demonstrate long-term commitment to the values we expect of them, including good governance and tackling corruption, we do not fund that government directly but channel our support in other ways, for example, through non-governmental or multilateral organisations, to ensure it reaches the people who need it most.