• Watchdog warns costs of accommodation for refugees within the UK could take up one-fifth of an already shrinking international aid budget
  
• UK government will cut international aid from 0.5% to 0.3% of Gross National Income (GNI) by 2027
  
• New Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) report, embargoed until Tuesday 15 July, projects that persistent in-donor refugee costs will leave as little as 0.24% of GNI for overseas development
  

London, UK – July 15, 2025 – In response to the latest report from the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI), the ONE Campaign has called on the government to protect what remains of the UK’s global development funding.

Adrian Lovett, Executive Director for the UK, Middle East and Asia Pacific for the ONE Campaign, said:

“This confirms what we have long feared – UK aid is being stretched to breaking point. While it’s right that refugees are housed in safe accommodation, paying for this from the diminished international aid budget means there will be even less support for the world’s most vulnerable people at a time of growing global need.

“Aid is a vital, strategic investment in global stability and shared  prosperity. With the budget shrinking to 0.3% of national income, the government must ensure that every penny of UK aid delivers maximum impact in creating healthier lives and economic opportunities. In the end, this makes us all safer and more secure.

“The UK is at its best when it delivers a strong and growing aid budget, but also uses its political and diplomatic muscle to help create the conditions for sustainable solutions. We look to ministers to be creative and ambitious on both fronts in the months and years ahead.”

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

The ICAI report, Management of the Official Development Assistance Spending Target, examines the implications of the UK government’s plan to reduce aid spending to 0.3% of GNI by 2027–28, including the projected rise in in-donor refugee costs.