UK aid to Ukraine

Review

This review found that the UK has mounted an effective and flexible civilian aid response after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, but that post-war reconstruction will need careful management.

Findings

• UK aid has been effective and adaptive in responding to the crisis in Ukraine, providing £228 million in bilateral assistance in 2023-24 and £4 billion in loan guarantees over five years.
• Giving aid to trusted partners enabled fast mobilisation of support, including targeted assistance for vulnerable populations.
• Large loan guarantees are crucial to help Ukraine carry on functioning as a state, but mean the UK has taken on significant liabilities that could impact the aid budget in future.
• The international community should improve engagement with local civil society organisations on the ground, who found it hard to access funding.
• There are high corruption risks in post-war reconstruction which must be managed appropriately.
• The UK has used initiatives like the 2023 Ukraine Recovery Conference in London to seek and rally support from other governments and the private sector.

Recommendations

1. FCDO should intensify its support for localisation of the coordination and delivery of the humanitarian response in Ukraine.
2. The design of future FCDO programmes should encompass programming options for different scenarios and the ability to adapt quickly when circumstances change.  
3. FCDO should strengthen its third-party monitoring and audit arrangements in Ukraine by adding specialist capacity to identify and investigate fraud, corruption and diversion risks to UK aid (including guarantees) across the country portfolio.
4. Based on lessons from other post-conflict settings, FCDO’s new anti-corruption programming should include a focus on helping Ukraine’s independent anti-corruption bodies to identify and manage corruption risks associated with large-scale reconstruction.