New Approach to International Development

The UK’s new development approach shifts towards investment and local ownership, while key questions on implementation remain.

At the end of March, Dr Axel Berger attended a discussion on “The UK’s New approach to International development”, hosted by the Center for Global Development. It brought together senior voices from UK government, academia, and partner countries to discuss the UK’s new ODA strategy, which aims to represent a genuine reset amid a significant budget cut of ODA to 0,3% of GNI.

The UK Minister of State for International Development, Baroness Chapman, framed this reset in terms of a fundamental funding gap in development which cannot be filled by aid alone. The strategy is thus built around four key shifts: from donor to investor, from service delivery to system support, from grants to expertise, and from international intervention to local provision. Participants highlighted that not only money but also power needs to shift to partner countries, with governments asking for partnerships aligned with their national development plans. The discussion also underlined that economic and political credibility will depend on implementation at country level, while leaving open questions about the balance between development and defence.

Such dialogues are important steps in reshaping the international development system, yet fundamental questions remain open. In his résumé, Axel Berger noted in particular how these discussions and any reform initiatives need to be related to parallel reform debates undertaken in other countries, initiatives, and organisations and reflect on the broader donor and development landscape.