Foreign aid overhaul in the UK
Last week the new British government said that despite being almost completely broke, it wasn’t going to 
balance its books on the backs of the poor. In his first major speech International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell promised that the UK will give 0.7% of GDP to foreign aid by 2013 – another affirmation of a long-delayed goal.
Perhaps more tangibly he promised that the money will be better spent. Old priorities went on the block immediately with the UK cutting aid to both Russia and China. Elsewhere, spending will henceforth be based on evidence not guess-work with the Department for International Development (DFID) moving towards a cash-on-delivery model where countries only receive foreign aid once they’ve shown results.
And to show he’s in step with current development trends he’s drawing back the curtains that hide funding and will make the entire process more open with the UK Government Aid Transparency Guarantee.
Listen to a short report from the BBCs International development correspondent David Lloyd, by clicking on the arrow below.
[audio:http://tundralights.com/dispatches/wp-content/audio/uk_aid.mp3]