LONDON: The International Development Committee (IDC) of the BritishParliament has re-launched an inquiryto assess the effectiveness of itsgovernment’s development policy towards the country and investigate the£302 million aid given to Pakistan by the United Kingdom.
The inquiry will be conducted by the parliamentary select committeeresponsible for scrutiny of UK aid, which is made of MPs from differentparties.
The UK’s aid to Pakistan came under focus after the Daily Mail published anarticle in 2019 alleging that “millions” of UK taxpayers’ money was stolenby former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif and his family. The PML-Nleader is already suing the paper and contesting the claim as “baseless”.
Pakistan has been part of the Department for International Development’s(DFID) largest country programme for the last five years and has receivedaround £302 million in 2019/20.
During 2018 and 2019, the UK aid to Pakistan saw 53% spent on humandevelopment (including health and education), 29% on economic development,10% on governance and security, 5% on climate and the environment and 3% onhumanitarian aid.
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The British MPs have invited written submissions by April 1 to assess theimpact of the UK aid to Pakistan.
The MPs will investigate whether UK’s strategic aims for its Pakistanprogramme are clear and appropriate and if other aspects of the UK-Pakistanrelationship are coherent and well-coordinated with the aid programme andits aims and objectives. They will check to what extent is UK aid spendingin Pakistan integrated, coordinated and responsive to the priorities andcommitments of the Pakistan government.
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