The Times has published a letter to the editor from our Executive Director Nic Hailey setting out why, at a time of shrinking aid budgets and increasing humanitarian need, the UK government must prioritise preventing conflict.
Sir,
Lord Evans of Weardale sets out well the need for the UK to increase stability outside its borders (“UK should aim to prevent conflicts around the world”). While the tool he points to — the Integrated Security Fund — has potential to achieve some of this, a fuller review of all UK aid is required.
The global conflict crisis — there is twice as much war as a decade ago — has stretched an already broken international aid system beyond its limits. Dealing with the symptoms of conflict has become unaffordable in a world of smaller aid budgets, with a record 350 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.
At a moment of cuts and crisis, the whole aid system must focus on conflict prevention. This is not simple but it can be done, and is far cheaper than simply dealing with the terrible consequences of conflict.
Nic Hailey
Executive Director, International Alert
