WaterAid statement – merger of DFID and FCO
Tim Wainwright, Chief Executive of WaterAid UK
| WaterAid
1 min read
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced the merger of the Department for International Development and the Foreign Office to create the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Department.
DFID has led the world in effective aid spending and outperformed all other Government departments in terms of the effectiveness and transparency of aid projects.
It is imperative that the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people remain at the heart of all decisions, are the sole recipients of the legally consecrated aid budget and are not subsumed by what is regarded as in British interests.
The countries in which development programmes are funded must be guided solely by the needs of the people, not by gaining geopolitical advantages or selling British goods.
Covid-19 has shown the global community that until everywhere is safe from the virus, nowhere is safe.
The new Foreign Commonwealth and Development Department can both help protect the British people from future outbreaks and ensure that the needs of the world’s poorest are met by immediately increasing spending on providing safe water, somewhere to wash hands and a decent toilet for everyone so that no-one is unable to protect themselves against the virus.
We look forward to working with new merged department to continue DFID’s good work to bring these basic services to everyone.
