Reviews

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The UK aid response to COVID-19

Completed: 21 October 2021

This review examines the prioritisation and redirection of UK aid in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

UK aid’s alignment with the Paris Agreement

Completed: 14 October 2021

A rapid review that examines how the UK government is aligning all its official development assistance (ODA) with the Paris Agreement, following its commitment to do so in 2019.

Management of the 0.7% ODA spending target in 2020

Completed: 20 May 2021

The government successfully met its aid spending target in 2020 through reprioritising programmes as the COVID-19 pandemic hit – but economic uncertainty and the government’s ‘cut once, cut deep’ approach meant that cuts to bilateral aid were ultimately more drastic than they needed to be.

The UK’s aid engagement with China

Completed: 28 April 2021

An information note providing a factual account of how UK aid has been spent by government departments supporting China’s own development, partnering with China on global development challenges, and working with third countries on their engagement with China.

Tackling fraud in UK aid

Completed: 8 April 2021

The government’s approach to managing fraud in the aid programme is broadly relevant and effective – but more can be done to find fraud cases by improving oversight and intelligence sharing across aid-spending departments, and streamlining and enhancing whistleblowing systems.

UK aid spending during COVID-19: management of procurement through suppliers

Completed: 4 December 2020

Aid-spending government departments worked flexibly with suppliers to minimise the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their work, but lack of transparency about the government’s new aid priorities hampered delivery, and the long-term impact of the cuts to the UK aid programme remains to be seen.

Management of the 0.7% ODA spending target

Completed: 24 November 2020

The government’s approach to managing its aid-spending target has become increasingly effective and well-coordinated across government – but making the process more flexible in future could reduce the “significant” impact of major economic shocks.

The UK’s approach to tackling modern slavery through the aid programme

Completed: 14 October 2020

The UK’s work to tackle modern slavery in developing countries has had limited long-term impact, did not build on existing international efforts and experience, and failed to adequately involve survivors – though the government played a prominent role in raising the profile of the issue globally.

Sexual exploitation and abuse by international peacekeepers

Completed: 30 September 2020

The UK’s “leading” work to tackle the widespread problem of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) by international peacekeepers is relevant and important, but could be strengthened with more focus on survivors and a stronger approach to learning. This short report is a companion to ICAI’s January 2020 review of The UK’s Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative.