We conclude that, for the time being, it would not be prudent for the Government to work on the basis that funding allocated to research for vaccines, treatments or tests for Covid-19 would count as ODA, as it “contributes to addressing a global challenge and not a disease disproportionately affecting people in developing countries”. Our view is that this frees up a substantial sum from the 2020 ODA pot to be applied to, either alleviate part of the cuts made in anticipation of reduced GNI fo...

We conclude that, for the time being, it would not be prudent for the Government to work on the basis that funding allocated to research for vaccines, treatments or tests for Covid-19 would count as ODA, as it “contributes to addressing a global challenge and not a disease disproportionately affecting people in developing countries”. Our view is that this frees up a substantial sum from the 2020 ODA pot to be applied to, either alleviate part of the cuts made in anticipation of reduced GNI for 2020, or activity aimed at alleviating secondary impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. We would recommend the latter course (in so far as the options are m Type: conclusion | Number: 5 | Response status: under_consideration Government response: We are committed to the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) rules and our ODA is allocated in accordance with current ODA eligibility Directives. The DAC ODA rules are clear that R&D investments which primarily aim to address problems faced by develo