Responses to Poverty in the Developing World - Responses of Individual Countries - UK and FCDO Flashcards
More education for girls
POINT
Education is seen as a key enabler of reducing extreme poverty i.e. if access to education is improved, poverty levels will be reduced.
More education for girls
EXPLAIN
FCDO work to address barriers to girls’ education not limited to investments in education sector – also make investments in gender-responsive social protection, adolescent sexual and reproductive health and ending violence including child marriage.,
Supports girls’ education outcomes by addressing barriers to girls access to and staying in education.
FCDO prioritises supporting teachers in all our programmes and through global funds in education such as Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and Education Cannot Wait (ECW).
More education for girls
EXAMPLE
Due to GEC, over 1 million girls at risk of dropping out of school are now staying on and making progress in school and helping over 150,000 girls with disabilities to attend school through this programme.
More education for girls
ANALYSIS
By getting more girls into education and helping them to remain in education, it can greatly improve their future prospects.
The cycle of poverty notes the importance of education in breaking the cycle – for girls who avoid being the victims of marginalisation, they can educate themselves and go on to gain qualifications, secure employment and hopefully prevent any children they may go on to have from being born into poverty themselves.
Education for individuals can also lead to positive impacts on families and whole communities.
More education for girls
EVALUATION
However, the FCDO has been criticised for not doing enough to ensure that spending on education does in fact result in children learning better.
A 2022 review found that FCDO needs to ensure that all spending on education in partner countries, not just its own, translates into improved learning.
More education for girls
LINK TO Q
Budget reductions to UK aid to education have also been very significant and, along with potential staff restructurings may pose a risk to the FCDO retaining its influence on education globally and improving education quality in partner countries.
FCDO working towards a healthier world
POINT
Health is also seen as a key enabler of reducing extreme poverty i.e. improving health is one of the most effective interventions in extreme poverty reduction.
FCDO working towards a healthier world
EXPLAIN
FCDO does a lot of work globally to help tackle these diseases so that the populations of developing countries, the workers of now and tomorrow, are healthy and productive. Doing so means that those countries are in a better position to overcome the other challenges of underdevelopment.
FCDO’s work will be focused on tackling barriers that stand in the way of protecting the lives of mothers, babies and children – such as poor-quality health services, lack of nutrition, unsafe water and inadequate sanitation.
FCDO working towards a healthier world
EXAMPLE
In December 2021, the FCDO set out its ‘Ending Preventable Deaths’ approach paper to address the problem that every 6 seconds, a pregnant woman, new-born baby or child dies somewhere in the world.
FCDO working towards a healthier world
ANALYSIS
This shows that the UK and FCDO are being successful because it is contributing towards the treatment of diseases and preventable deaths.
This means that through the treatment of illnesses, developing countries gain a much healthier, active workforce that contributes to the economy and by ensuring women and children do not suffer a preventable death they can go on to live healthier lives and contribute to the economy in their home countries once old enough.
This also means that developing countries are not having to spend quite as much of their little budget on illnesses and can spend it elsewhere due to aid being provided by the UK and FCDO.
FCDO working towards a healthier world
EVALUATION
The FCDO could be encouraged to focus on working more closely with national governments to help strengthen health systems.
There has been a loss of experts in advisory roles, with health one of the areas most affected.
2023-2024 funding for a pan-African programme on sexual and reproductive health rights had been reduced by 60%.
Budget reductions have had a dramatic impact on maternal health programming.
FCDO working towards a healthier world
LINK TO Q
The Guardian reported that hundreds of thousands more women will face unsafe abortions and thousands will die in pregnancy and childbirth because of UK aid cuts in 2023-24.
Investing in infrastructure and jobs
POINT
Often, development can be held back when countries lack the good quality infrastructure needed to help the country become more developed.
Investing in infrastructure and jobs
EXPLAIN
Sustainable infrastructure is crucial for development. From transport systems to power generation facilities and water and sanitation networks, it provides the services that enable society to function and economies to thrive.
Low- and middle-income countries need to expand infrastructure investment seven-fold, to more than $1 trillion per year, just to support their transition to net zero.
The UK hosted the UK-African Investment Summit in London on 23 to 24 April 2024, which brought together heads of state and government from 25 African countries with British and African business leaders. It worked to strengthen UK-African partnerships to create jobs and growth; support British and African talent in sectors such as finance and technology; and promote women entrepreneurs.
Investing in infrastructure and jobs
EXAMPLE
In Ghana, FCDO’s partnership with the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Overseas Development Institute gave critical support to the Ghanaian Finance Ministry as it designed its support package for COVID-19 hit sectors.
