Like several other Western countries, including Sweden and the USA, the United Kingdom has decided on significant reductions in aid to the world's poor. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced that the aid will be capped from 0.5 percent of GDP to 0.3 percent.
Although this will not take effect until two years from now, Dodds fears that it "is likely to leave countless countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Balkans – at a time when Russia is aggressively increasing its global presence", according to BBC, citing a letter from the outgoing minister.
She also writes that the reductions will "deprive desperate people of food and healthcare – which will severely damage the United Kingdom's reputation".
Sweden's aid budget is still relatively larger than the United Kingdom's, and still meets the internationally established goal of at least 0.7 percent of gross national product or gross national income. However, with the current government's policy, Sweden is also expected to fall below the threshold in a few years, according to forecasts.
