In June 2024, the Scottish Government published its ‘Contribution to International Development Report 2021-23’, which provides information on the Scottish Government’s international development activities from 2021 to 2023.
This blog:
- provides background on the Scottish Government’s approach to international development since 2016
- summarises the Contribution to International Development Report 2021-23
- gives an overview of the Scottish Government’s future plans for international development.
As this blog is slightly longer than usual, the clickable headings below might be helpful for navigation.
What is international development?
The United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Right to Development on 4 December 1986. This declaration defined development as:
a comprehensive economic, social, cultural and political process, which aims at the constant improvement of the well-being of the entire population and of all individuals on the basis of their active, free and meaningful participation in development and in the fair distribution of the benefits resulting therefrom.
In the last ten years, international development has increasingly been understood in terms of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. In September 2015, all UN Member States adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The agenda includes 17 goals which all Member States commit themselves to work towards achieving by 2030.
What approach to international development has the Scottish Government taken in recent years?
In December 2016, the Scottish Government published an international development strategy, ‘Global Citizenship: Scotland’s International Development Strategy’. The strategy named Malawi, Zambia, Rwanda, and Pakistan (in relation to education) as Scotland’s partner countries for international development. The 2016 strategy pledged to ‘fundamentally embed’ the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, both domestically and in its work with the partner countries. The strategy also set out a number of funding streams through which its international development funding is allocated: the International Development Fund, the Humanitarian Aid Fund, and the Climate Justice Fund. More information on these funds is available on the Scottish Government’s webpage.
The Scottish Government reviewed its international development policy in 2021. The review cited the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the demand for change from the Black Lives Matter movement as the impetus for reviewing the way the Scottish Government’s international development work is delivered. The review set out the following key changes to the Scottish Government’s approach to international development:
- Build back fairer and stronger after the Covid-19 pandemic: The review stated that this will involve restructuring funding streams to focus on economic recovery and institutional resilience as well as a new Equalities Programme. The review also stated that key priorities within these areas will be highlighted by partner countries.
- Establishing a Global South Programme Panel: This panel is envisaged to “provide advice to Scottish Minister[s] […] to ensure that global south voices continue to be heard beyond this Review, at the highest level.”
- Updating funding criteria: According to the review, this change involves adjusting funding criteria to remove the requirement that funding can only be accessed by organisations based in Scotland. The review stated that this change will lead to more organisations from partner countries being able to apply for funding.
- Refining the offer: The review stated that this change will involve addressing an ongoing concern that the Scottish Government’s “focus is too broad given the current constitutional arrangements” and that it wants to pursue a more focused approach that best matches partner countries’ needs and asks.
The review also articulated a number of principles to guide the Scottish Government’s future delivery of its international development programme but notes that these principles sit below the vision originally articulated in its 2016 strategy:
International Solidarity in an interdependent world means embedding a human rights approach in all our work. We speak out with clarity of purpose and compassion, in support of democracy, human rights and the rule of law.
Contribution to International Development Report 2021-23
The Scottish Government published the Contribution to International Development Report 2021-23 on 17 June 2024. The Scottish Government had previously published three reports covering 2017-2018, 2018-2019, and 2019-2020.
The 2021-23 report provides information on the Scottish Government’s international development funding and activities. This section provides an overview of international development spending set out in the report. Detailed descriptions of funded programmes and case studies are provided in the report:
- Health
- Inclusive Education
- Equalities
- Sustainable Economic Development
- Renewable Energy and Climate
- Climate Justice
- Water and Sanitation
- Humanitarian Emergency Responses
- Global Citizenship
Scottish Government Official Development Assistance
The report provides a summary of Scottish Government Official Development Assistance (ODA). This refers to spend on international development that is included in the UK Government’s return to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Information of what counts as ODA can be found on the OECD’s website.
The report states that three funding streams, the International Development Fund, the Humanitarian Emergency Fund, and the Climate Justice Fund contributed the majority of the Scottish Government funded ODA. In addition, the report notes that some additional spending such as humanitarian aid for Ukraine and development assistance through ‘Hydro Nation’, are included in the Scottish Government’s ODA spend.
ODA spend excluding in-kind donations 2021-23
2021 | £14,381,156 |
2022 | £15,761,345 |
2023 | £16,397,699 |
Total | £46,540,201 |
The above map illustrates in which countries the highest shares of ODA were allocated:
- 27.56% was spent in Malawi (£12,826,625 during 2021-23)
- 11.39% was spent in Ukraine (£5,300,000 during 2022-23)
- 10.16% was spent in Rwanda (£4,727,320 during 2021-23)
- 8.25% was spent in Zambia (£3,838,659 during 2021-23)
- 5.93% was spent in Pakistan (£2,760,000 during 2021-23)
- 1.83% was spent in Afghanistan (£850,000 during 2021-23)
- 1.61% was spent in Gaza (£750,000 during 2023)
- 1.54% was spent in Ethiopia (£715,350 during 2021-23).
Lower shares of funding were also allocated in Libya, Sudan, Kenya, South Sudan, Somalia, and Burkina Faso. In addition, some regional funding was allocated to ‘South of Sahara’ (2021-23), the Middle East (2023), and East Africa (2023). In addition, £4,850,927 were spent in ‘Unspecified’ from 2021-23.
The report states that International Development Funding in Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia was focused on health, inclusive education, equalities, renewable energy, economic development, and global citizenship. Separately to the report, the Scottish Government has published information on:
- Zambia Development Programme 2017-2022: grant awards
- Rwanda Development Programme 2017-2022: grant awards
- International Development Fund: Malawi projects 2018-2023.
Some of the programmes listed in these documents were extended and ran until March 2024.
The report provides information on the proportion of ODA spend across policy areas. While funding in most areas varies across the years, there are some key trends:
- Humanitarian and Peace funding represented the largest share of funding in 2022 (37.03%) and 2023 (29.66%).
- Covid-related funding represented 19.99% of funding spent in 2021 and 11.10% in 2022. No Covid-related funding was allocated in 2023.
- Health-related funding increased significantly, from 5.68% in 2021 to 15.92% in 2023.
Annex 1 of the report provides further information on development spending and the amount of funding returned each year. In correspondence, the Scottish Government has confirmed that the annex figures detail total spend which includes some non-ODA spend and in-kind donations. Examples of in-kind donations include the provision of PPE stocks in 2021 and consignments of humanitarian medical aid donations to Ukraine in 2022.
Total development spend including in-kind donations 2021-23:
2021 | £26,325,277 |
2022 | £18,737,526 |
2023 | £16,397,699 |
Total | £61,460,502 |
The Scottish Government’s international development budget
The Programme for Government 2021-22 stated that the Scottish Government would:
From April 2022, start to increase our International Development Fund from £10 million to £15 million and maintain that increase in line with inflation throughout the term of this Parliament.
The 2022-23 Programme for Government also stated that the International Development Fund would be increased to £15 million. The £15 million figure was not included in the 2023-24 Programme for Government or the 2024-25 Programme for Government. The 2024-25 Programme states:
While focussing on inequality at home, we will not forget our commitment to the global Sustainable Development Goals. We will protect our commitments on climate justice, international development, and humanitarian assistance, launching new programmes to support good global citizenship, connecting Scotland to the Global South.
The Scottish Government’s International development webpage states:
Our International Development Fund (IDF), established in 2005, is forecast to rise from around £10 million in 2021 to £15 million by mid-2026.
In recent years, there had been 3 budget lines in relation to international development. For 2024/25, the budget lines for International Development Administration (worth £177,000 in 2023-24) and Humanitarian Aid (worth £1 million in 2023-24) were deleted with the International Development Fund budget line now also appearing to cover these areas.
However, the International Development Fund budget remains at £11.5 million for 2024-25, the same amount as has been allocated yearly since 2022/23, despite these additional responsibilities being included within the budget.
According to the Scottish Government, this effective cut in the International Development budget is a:
temporary reduction to protect Scotland’s culture and historic environment in the context of challenging economic conditions.
A separate budget line for the Climate Justice Fund is not provided in budget documents, though it is mentioned under the Sustainable Action Fund budget (2021/2022 documents), the Climate Action and Just Transition Fund (2022/23 and 2023/24 documents), the Hydro Nation Fund (2021/22 and 2022/23 documents) and the Climate Action and Policy budget (2024/25 documents). The Scottish Government has committed to increasing the fund to £36 million over the course of the current parliamentary term. According to an announcement from August 2023, projects in Rwanda, Malawi and Zambia will receive £24 million through the Climate Just Communities Programme over three years.
Future international development plans
While the report covers 2021-23, it also contains information on the Scottish Government’s future plans for its international development programmes.
In relation to future Climate Justice Programmes, the report states that the focus for the rest of this parliamentary term will be the Climate Just Communities Programme and the Non-Economic Loss and Damage Programme, both of which were launched at the end of 2023.
The report states that the Scottish Government’s international development programmes will have the following thematic areas of focus:
- health programmes in Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia, focusing on tackling ‘non-communicable diseases’, such as heart disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease, and diabetes
- inclusive education programmes in Malawi, Rwanda, Zambia and Pakistan focusing on improving access to education for girls and learners with additional support needs
- equalities programmes in Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia, aimed at supporting the advancement of gender equality, the rights of women and girls, and the protection of vulnerable groups.
Calls for proposals in relation to several of these programmes, to be funded through the International Development Fund, were launched in 2024, including:
- Scottish Peace Programme: request for proposals (Total budget is £400,000 annually for three years)
- Zambia Non-Communicable Diseases Programme: call for proposals (Total budget is £275,000 annually for up to three years)
- Rwanda Non-Communicable Diseases Programme: call for proposals (Total budget is £400,000 annually for up to 3 years with an option of a further year extension)
- Inclusive education programme: call for proposals (Total budget is £2.5m annually for five years with the possibility of extension)
Further, a new Women and Girls Fund, part of the new International Development Equalities Programme, was launched in March 2024. According to the Scottish Government, the fund will receive £3 million from the International Development Fund and will be delivered over four years by the Forum for African Women Educationalists and the international research consultancy Ecorys.
Conclusion
The Contribution to International Development Report 2021-23 sets out the areas in which the Scottish Government has been providing support for international development in recent years. With most of these programmes having come to an end in 2023, the Scottish Government’s international development presence is currently undergoing a period of change. New development programmes focused on health, inclusive education, and equalities are expected to launch in 2024.
Annie Bosse, SPICe Research
“Globe” by andrewasmith is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.