Contribution to international development: report 2021 to 2023

Contribution to International Development Across the Portfolio

Between 2021 and 2023 the Scottish Government’s international development work has contributed towards the following SDGs:

Health – SDG 3, 6 & 5

• Developing our new health portfolio programme which targets non-communicable diseases, the greatest killer globally.
• Contributing to the improved maternal health and child survival in Malawi through Safer Motherhood education and training 9,978 pregnant women, mothers with newborns and husbands/partners.
• Providing 5 consignments of medical supplies from Scotland’s NHS to the crisis in Ukraine, as well as contributing to Red Cross’s efforts to support over 1 million people with health support, including medical treatment and medicine in Ukraine and the region.
• Improving access to sanitation for 81,000 households in Rwanda, who gained access to decent toilets.
• Assisting the COVID-19 responses of the Governments of Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia in early 2021, to implement their COVID-19 national response plans, and contributing towards the delivery of at least 6.5 million vaccine syringes, strengthening cold chain storage, and expanding oxygen generation, across our partner countries.
• Expanding the capacity of the existing oxygen generation plant at Kamuzu Central Hospital in Malawi (supporting treatment of 2,934 children admitted to the Hospital's paediatric wards).
• Contributing towards GAVI's goal of inoculating 86 million girls, including girls in Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia, with the HPV vaccine by 2025.
• Restocking supplies at the Derna Primary Health Centre which provided healthcare to 10,000 people during the Libyan Floods.
• Improving access to these basic human rights in vulnerable communities, schools and healthcare facilities in Rwanda, resulting in 94.4% of the women and girls supported in target locations reporting an improvement in understanding their right to report and address Sexual and Gender Based Violence violations.

Zero Hunger – SDG 1 & 2

• Supporting 11,800 vulnerable individuals to access food and basic essentials in Tigray, Ethiopia.
• Providing essential food items and cash, to 24,326 individuals throughout the Horn of Africa Food Crisis 2022-2023.
• Providing food supplies to more than 10,000 people in families of people with disabilities, also providing many of the same households with seeds to help replant lost harvests in South Sudan in 2021, while providing a further 6,000 people multi-purpose cash to buy food and other basic household items.

Inclusive Education – SDG 4 & 5

• Preparing the design and launch of new inclusive education programming to support more inclusive education, aiming to help reach the one in ten children who have a disability or additional support needs but are left behind by the school system, and to continue to remove barriers to education for the poorest women and girls^[1].
• Providing secondary school scholarships for 4,600 girls in Pakistan, 1600 of which from marginalised groups, and more than 750 young women receiving university scholarships, around 350 of which were for STEM subjects.
• Supporting more than 2700 learners with additional needs in Malawi and supporting 800 primary school educators to improve access to education.
• Providing 20 full scholarships a year for women in Zambia to fulfil their potential by studying through a world-leading online MBA programme.

Gender Equality – SDG 5

• Launching a new Scottish Government wide Feminist Approach to International Relations with a particular focus on international development, climate justice, trade, and peace and security.
• Launching a dedicated £3 million Women and Girls Fund to transform rights for women and girls across our Partner countries.
• Mainstreaming gender equality throughout our international development portfolio, leading to the publication in February 2024 of our guidance note “Mainstreaming Gender Equality in Scottish Government funded international development projects and programmes”; and
• Increasing access to education, employment and training for 4,456 marginalised women and girls in Malawi, Zambia and Rwanda.
• Using ‘sport for change’ approaches to support 15,342 women and girls in Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia to better claim their rights and feel safer and more respected within their contexts.
• Facilitating attitudinal change, institutional capacity building and empowerment of women and girls in targeted districts of Rwanda, to ensure they can enjoy equal rights and live free from discrimination and violence, through claiming their sexual and reproductive health rights.

Capacity Building & Civic Governance – SDG 16 & 17

• Surveying 206,663 m² of Ukrainian land for mines and explosive devices, with 11,827 m² of contaminated land cleared. 15,308 people have benefitted from the clearance work.
• Training 32 Police officers as Trainers in Malawi and Zambia and 163 Police Officers trained as First Responders on sexual offences and child protection.
• Supporting 2,436 children in Malawi to move from prison to community-based sentences.
• Providing 3,577 children in Malawi access to justice, representation, and treatment in accordance with the law and constitution of Malawi.

Climate Action, Justice and Renewable Energy – SDG 7 & 13

• Showing leadership as the first Global North Government to commit funding to address loss and damage, helping to unlock over $700 million globally.^[2]
• Pledging and mobilising £10 million on loss and damage since COP26, including £5 million for non-economic loss and damage.
• Supporting 15 cities in the Global South to deliver local inclusive climate action that builds resilience for frontline residents.
• Launching our Climate Just Communities programme which is taking a participatory approach to support more resilient and inclusive communities across Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia.
• Installing 2 solar PV microgrids in Malawi, through the EASE project, providing clean energy to 646 households, 37 businesses, 2 schools and 2 churches.
• Providing solar systems for 3 hospitals in Zambia, including training for maintenance.
• Establishing a new Global Renewables Centre, with formal partnerships with the Renewable Energy Association of Malawi, the Zambian Renewable Energy Association and the Energy Private Developers Association of Rwanda, as a hub for facilitating knowledge exchange between Scotland, Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia, offering networking, shared learning, and resources that enables increased deployment of sustainable energy.

Global Citizenship and Partnership - SDG 12 & 17

• Supporting and promoting Fair Trade through the Scottish Fair Trade Forum, and also working in close partnership with Scotland's International Development Alliance, the Scotland Malawi Partnership and the Malawi Scotland Partnership, to support civil society links, enable sustainable development in our partner countries, and raise awareness of international development work through engaging with the people of Scotland.
• Developing partnerships between NHS Scotland and partner countries, such as the partnership between NHS Lanarkshire and Central Province in Zambia, and the developing relationship between the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service and the Zambia National Blood Transfusion Service.