GDI Lecture: The rise and fall of the UK aid budget: How has the NGO landscape changed over the last 20 years?
| Dates: | 10 December 2025 |
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| Times: | 16:30 - 18:00 |
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| What is it: | Lecture |
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| Organiser: | Global Development Institute |
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Speakers: Tom Baker (Save the Children UK) in conversation with Alex Molton and Fin Hanna (GDI Postgraduate Students)
Cuts to the UK aid budget represent just the latest in a more protracted decline of overseas aid. To help us make sense of this shift and discuss potential ways forward, this session will take the form of a fireside chat between GDI students and Tom Baker, Director of Politics, Participation and Campaigns at Save the Children UK.
Tom will bring his expertise as a practitioner in the field, providing first-hand observations of the role NGOs play in influencing ODA budgets, the current state of affairs, and how narratives surrounding aid and development have evolved in recent decades. The discussion will be of interest to both academics looking for a nuanced, first-hand perspective of the contemporary NGO landscape, as well as students keen to learn inspiring practitioner insights, as well as the role they can play in campaigning for change.
Tom Baker is Director of Politics, Participation and Campaigns at Save the Children UK – leading work across international development, conflict and UK poverty. He previously held advocacy roles at Bond, Christian Aid and Tearfund. He is also the Independent Chair of Hub Cymru Africa, and is Secretary of the Labour Campaign for International Development. He writes a popular blog on campaigning at thoughtfulcampaigner.org
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G32
Humanities Bridgeford Street
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