A group of philanthropists, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, are to supply £93.5m emergency funding to hide some UK aid cuts.
They said the temporary funding would help save “critical projects” and ensure progress wasn’t “wasted”.
The government has decided to scale back this year’s spending on overseas aid from 0.7% of value to 0.5%.
It said the financial impact of the pandemic had forced ministers to require “tough but necessary decisions”.
The group, which also includes the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, the ELMA Foundation and society Foundations, said the emergency funds would help projects tackling preventable diseases and providing birth control and sexual health services.
They said it might prevent life-saving drugs from being thrown away because they pass their expiry date, and ensure women living within the poorest parts of the planet are ready to avoid unplanned pregnancies.
The UN’s birth control agency (UNFPA) looks set to lose some 85% of its funding from the United Kingdom , a drop of about £130m.
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A spokeswoman for the funder consortium, Kate Hampton, chief executive of the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, said: “These life-saving treatments are cost-effective investments. If they are going unfunded this year, British taxpayer generosity is going to be wasted as clinics are closed and essential drugs expire and are thrown away.”
The emergency funding was welcomed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who said it had been “desperately needed”.
However, he called on the government to revive its commitment to spend 0.7% of value on aid .
Bar chart showing ODA since 2013
Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, said: “When Britain withdraws, others step in. By cutting our aid, we’ve given states like China and Russia a chance to expand their influence at Britain’s expense.”
Charities including Oxfam and ActionAid have criticised the cuts – which amount to around £4bn a year – warning that they need already forced projects to be cancelled.
Many Tory MPs have also spoken out against the move, which went against the pledge within the 2019 Conservative election manifesto to stay to the 0.7% figure.
But Chancellor Rishi Sunak has previously said it had been hard to “justify” the commitment with the United Kingdom facing record borrowing, and with a debt of over £2 trillion.
A government spokesperson said: “The UK will spend quite £10bn to enhance global health, fight poverty and tackle global climate change this year – making us one among the most important aid donors within the G7.”
“We have always been clear that the government will return to spending 0.7% of GNI [gross national income] on international development as soon as the fiscal situation allows,” the spokesperson added.
