Since the 1970s, the UN has called for all rich nations to spend 0.7 per cent of their GDP on overseas development assistance. The UK’s journey towards 0.7 has been bumpy-falling after the election of Margaret Thatcher in 1979, rising after 1997 and New Labour, dipping again in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis-but since David Cameron matched Labour’s pledge to hit 0.7 after becoming leader of the Conservatives, the target has been met.
Not all of that aid is spent by Dfid, though. The Conservative government has dramatically increased the amount spent by other departments-and some experts worry that those departments, most notably the foreign office, spend it poorly.
Where the money is spent has also come under increasing scrutiny in recent years. War zones, naturally, feature high on the list: Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia and Yemen are all in the top seven. Old colonial ties also make a difference: more of the UK’s spend in Africa is focused on the English-speaking east than the Francophone west.
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