It is an immense honour and privilege to be here today for the first time as Minister for Development and for Women and Equalities.
Chatham House of course has a long history of being at the cutting edge of foreign policy and development thinking. It is the perfect place to share my vision for a modern approach to international development. I am delighted to see so many of you here, including so many of our partners – from Gates, to Gavi, to the Global Fund.
I am proud to be able to say to you all – Britain is back on the world stage, with a minister at the top table, advocating for projects and assistance to advance that goal just mentioned of a world free from poverty on a liveable planet.
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Today is the ‘International Day for the Eradication of Poverty’. Between the late 1990s and the early2020s, the world did make headway in lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. Lives saved and lives changed.
Many of these gains can never be undone. But as was mentioned the geopolitical challenges now are stark – and progress against the Sustainable Development Goals is stalling.
We do live in a multipolar world with intense competition. We need to adapt and respond to to that world. The world is different – first – because over the last four years, the number of people in humanitarian need has doubled. A vicious cycle of an unprecedented profusion of conflicts and the climate crisis, which is now compounding the suffering of some of the most vulnerable people in the world. And many women, girls, and marginalised people are experiencing a devastating roll-back of hard-won rights, services, and democratic freedoms.
I saw this first-hand during my recent trip to South Sudan. In the horrendous conditions of the camp in Bentiu for internally displaced people, I heard heart-breaking accounts from those who were forced to flee the brutal civil war in Sudan, as well as meeting people suffering from South Sudan’s own humanitarian emergency, caused by the legacy of civil war and the climate crisis.
The conflict in Sudan has now forced more people from their homes than any other conflict – some ten million people. It has pushed nearly nine million people into emergency or famine levels of food insecurity, and as I raised at the UN last month – there is a real risk that without global action to prevent it, the worst famine in several generations could happen on the world’s watch.
Around the globe, millions of people, who long to return home are beginning to despair that they ever will – including the Syrian refugees I met in Jordan, still there over a decade after they fled the conflict, and so many communities enduring such suffering – from the DRC, to Yemen, Ukraine, and Myanmar, to Gaza and the wider Middle East.
In all this, political efforts have been vital to get aid in – including our reinstatement of £21m of UK funding to UNRWA, as the only Agency able to deliver at scale in Gaza, and the further £10-million of wider humanitarian support for Lebanon we announced earlier this month.
By the end of this decade, unless more action is taken, some two-thirds of those living in extreme poverty will be living in fragile and conflict-affected states. At the same time courageous humanitarian aid workers on the front lines of getting help to them around the globe are under attack.
We have a moral imperative to help turn things around. People everywhere – including the British people – understand instinctively that this is the right thing to do, Compassion, fairness, and refusing to look the other way when someone is in need are all British values. And action is in all our interests as well.
The new government’s commitment to tackle irregular migration at source is important for those who would otherwise be forced to leave their homes, and important for people in the UK too. That is why, during the European Political Community meeting, the Prime Minister announced up to £84 million for projects across Africa and the Middle East – to address the factors that end up pushing people into small boats.
The world is also changing because we see new leadership from the likes of President Lula of Brazil, and Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados, on everything from reforming the global financial system, to tackling hunger and poverty around the world – through the emerging G20 Global Alliance for which I was so proud to announce UK support in Brazil.
I have seen leadership among the women forest rangers who I met in Sulawesi in September. Visiting them gave me an inspiring reminder of the difference we can make to our planet and to peoples’ lives, when we work together as genuine partners – where action to preserve forests also promotes sustainable livelihoods, and where economic development goes hand in hand with combatting climate disaster.
Today’s world is very different. But as our Foreign Secretary set out, our progressive, realistic approach draws on the same spirit that Ernest Bevin and Robin Cook animated and energised. For our country to once again lead on development, we will need a new, modern approach, based on genuine partnership, trust, and respect.
It will mean recognising that for our partners, tackling the climate and nature crises is not separate from promoting economic growth and meeting humanitarian need, but intrinsic to both. And it will mean making good on our word, not leaving our partners high and dry and making the most of British talent and expertise to improve peoples’ lives, now and in the future.
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We have to turn the page, if we are genuinely to work in partnership again. Consider that asylum costs, which have spiralled in recent years, at present account for almost 30% of our development spending while the backlog has soared, with people waiting years to receive a decision – which the Home Secretary is now taking action to rectify.
Consider too that so much of our country’s current international climate finance commitment was backloaded into these final two years – but we are now committed to make good on the promise that the UK will get help to those who need it.
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While we do not underestimate the significance or the complexity of these challenges in the shorter term. Neither should we underestimate our ability to respond under pressure in the long term. The UK has been ambitious on international development before. I am determined it will be again. Of course, that starts with boosting the effectiveness of our efforts.
I want to thank everyone from the sector who fed into the White Paper, and the civil servants who worked so hard – and I want to reassure you that I value it, as a diagnosis of the problems we face and how UK development can help meet them.
But I must be clear that we must now prioritise, and provide the strategy and the plan that has been lacking – and that is what I am now building. A core element of this is increasing our capability and capacity.
The Development Review, led by Baroness Minouche Shafik, is about building on the breadth and depth of development experience, expertise, and innovation represented here today. In addition, we will work closely with the Independent Commission for Aid Impact – making sure our official development assistance reaches those who need it most, and where and when it is most effective.
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Yet we must go further still if we are to shift our approach, quite determinedly – so it is truly modern. First and foremost – that means genuine partnership. Britain is back. Back in business. Back on the world stage.
And back pursuing our mission of a world free from poverty, on a liveable planet. And my message is that we will work with others, in good faith, to build genuine partnership, underpinned by our respect for other governments, organisations, communities, and individuals.
That means building shared plans for the future – not imposing our own, and – to quote the Prime Minister – listening a lot more, speaking a bit less.
This is exactly the approach the Foreign Secretary is taking – as he recently set out so movingly in his speech at Kew Gardens, to friends from across the Commonwealth, and at the United Nations in New York.
Currently, we are seeing those nations which were unable to industrialise bearing the brunt of the climate crisis – with a terrible cycle of floods, droughts, and hurricanes. Because climate and development are interlinked and interdependent, we will put tackling the climate and nature crisis at the heart of everything we do. Domestically, this government has an ambitious climate policy.
The drive for cheaper, cleaner power, being led by Ed Miliband, will not only bring down bills here, help us achieve energy security, and meet our goals to decarbonise – it also gives us credibility and expertise abroad, as we lead the response to the climate and nature crisis both bilaterally and through multilateral organisations.
Secondly – we will champion reform for a global, multilateral system that includes everyone, works for everyone, and is fit for the future.
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That means not just listening to our partners, as a priority – but making sure we take action together. When it comes to the humanitarian and development system that is so stretched, we look forward to seeing Tom Fletcher making the most of his new role as UN Relief Chief, and to working with our partners to take a less siloed, more joined up approach – across everything from climate, to the needs of women and girls, to humanitarian relief.
And when it comes to finance, time and again, we have heard from small islands and other vulnerable states, how difficult it is to access what they need to pursue their ambitions and priorities, escape the trap of unsustainable debt, and get on a sustainable footing.
That is why, in his speech to the UN General Assembly, the Prime Minister set out the case for accelerating reform of the multilateral development banks, including shouldering more risk so they can unlock hundreds of billions of dollars so they can do more to unlock hundreds of billions of dollars and do more to build a more sustainable economy and help the poorest.
Next week I will go to the World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington so they to press them to shoulder more risk so they can unlock the money that is so desperately needed. We will work with our partners – including fragile and climate vulnerable states to help them access more, better-quality, well-targeted, multiannual finance, including for adaptation, through a global financial system that is reformed and ready for the future, and through wider global forums where they have greater representation in the bodies that help shape our shared future – including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
We will champion financial innovation – from the insurance and guarantees our partners are seeking, to the Climate Resilient Debt Clauses promoted by the UK, that we are calling on all creditors to offer in their current and future lending.
Both within government and working with the financial services industry, we will make sure there is more to come – including helping countries tackle the barriers to investment that choke off the flow of private finance.
On so many fronts, from trade to taxation – globally, momentum is now building for the sort of change we need to see, and we are committed to making the most of every opportunity to urge it ahead.
That is why at the UN, the Prime Minister called on all donors to make the most of the International Development Association replenishment, as a critical milestone in the fight against poverty.
It can be bigger, better, and help more people, especially those in fragile states and conflict zones. So, on that basis, under this new government, the UK will be ambitious too – increasing our pledge, and encouraging others to play their part. And as the Prime Minister highlighted at the UN in recent weeks, there are measures that we can crack on with right now, to unlock further resources for sustainability, resilience, and renewal – like a new levy on global shipping that takes account of the true cost of emissions, and puts the proceeds cutting them even further, and helping communities cope with their impacts.
Third – we will make sure the UK’s expertise and ideas are at the heart of reliable development partnerships. When we work together across development and diplomacy, we maximise our impact – in everything from helping countries harness the opportunities of renewable energy, to reversing the vicious cycle of conflict, to empowering women and girls. This government will be proactive about all that the UK has to offer the world. Our country is brimming with talent and brilliance.
We are home to research and innovation on everything from nutritious and resilient crops, to new medicines and vaccines, cleaner mining, and emerging technologies. We have world-class universities, finance institutions, and expertise in leveraging private capital into low-income emerging countries – including through BII.
Both within government and in the City of London, we will make sure there is more to come, Including helping countries tackle the barriers that choke off the flow of private finance.
We also of course harbour top-tier businesses ready to share their insights and innovation with peers around the world. And we harbour dedicated volunteers in everything from health to education, to search and rescue, to the protection of nature – and so much more.
We are determined to put this talent and commitment to work, making sure we can connect British expertise and British solutions with international partners, in the spirit of collaboration and partnership.
And as the Member of Parliament representing a large part of Oxford, a city full of people who have dedicated their entire working lives to serving others in need, this is personal priority for me.
Fourthly – in doing all of this, the new government will be confident in publicly championing the power of international development – so we all feel the benefits of working together to make headway.
At a time when the Prime Minister and Chancellor have set us all a challenge to grow our economy and bring opportunity to people across our country, we know our partners around the world share these goals for their countries and their people as well – from clean energy, to protecting and restoring nature – land and sea – and from trade, to tackling illicit finance.
So that means no more apologising for making progress where we can, and more recognition that putting our best foot forward, in all we do at home and around the world, is in everyone’s best interests.
Finally – I want to emphasise how much I look forward to working with all of you in the months and years ahead. In the last fourteen weeks, I have seen what development can achieve. From promoting green growth in Indonesia to helping keeping Syrian girls in school in Jordan, to promoting a literal life-line in South Sudan.
I have seen how the UK can promote modern partnerships – at big global meetings from Rio to New York to Hamburg. And time and again, I have been reminded that as Mandela said, our human compassion binds us to one another, not in pity or paternalism, but in pursuit of our common purpose – of relieving suffering, and reinvigorating hope for our shared future by working towards it together.
Mandela also said that together, as you all know, we could make poverty history. Well, much has changed since that time, twenty years ago, under a Labour government – for good and for bad.
But it remains the case that the only way we can tackle shared challenges – from getting help to those in need, to preventing global health crises –i s by working towards it together.
That is the only way we can make the most of shared opportunities – from reforming the global financial system, to healing the natural world. And that is the only way we can make good on the promises we have made at home as well – from the first duty of government to keep our nation safe, to our mission to grow our economy, so we bring opportunity to all.
Sadly, there are forces hell-bent on setting the Global North in opposition to the Global South. Yet partnership is part and parcel of how we overcome them, and make sure that those of us who care about our shared future are able to work towards it together – ministers and civil servants, everyone here today, medics, firefighters, teachers volunteering their services, brave journalists, and people up and down our country – including our proud diasporas doing so much for our communities here and their families overseas.
The British people understand this deeply, and it is extraordinary that even in such challenging times, people find a way to help – I have no doubt that the compassion of the British people will shine through once again now.
Today, I am delighted to announce that the government will match public donations to a new Disaster Emergency Committee appeal, to help charities do more to get life-saving help to civilians caught up in the conflict in the Middle East, across Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank, people who find themselves in desperate need of humanitarian relief. This support builds on the humanitarian aid this government has announced for Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria, since July. We will match public donations to the new appeal up to £10 million – and together, we will make a difference.
