UK government Global Partnerships Conference statement

Commenting on the UK Global Partnerships Conference (19-20 May 2026), International Alert Executive Director Nic Hailey said:

“A year after announcing some of the deepest aid cuts in the world, this conference signals the UK’s ambition to maintain a leading role on global development.

That is welcome if it recognises the reality of what is needed.  Global development is currently in reverse: violent conflict is destroying far more than development aid can build, and humanitarian responses are stretched beyond their limits. The UK must use its diplomacy, partnerships and aid spending together, not only to respond to the terrible consequences of war, but to end and prevent it.

The safety and prosperity of people across the UK require engagement and action well beyond these shores, now as much as ever.  I hope that this conference signals a realistic return to UK leadership internationally, and an approach that recognises that the UK is safer and more prosperous if others are too.”