Attention is already turning to the next Scottish Parliament election in May 2026. Scottish Labour have recently launched a wide-ranging ‘Policy Forum’ to help inform development of the party’s manifesto for the election, which can be found here. The call for responses has been opened to all interested stakeholders, including third sector organisations and individual members of the public. The deadline for responses is Saturday 25th January 2025.
Recognising that 2025 will mark twenty years since the Scottish International Development Fund was launched by then First Minister Jack McConnell, the consultation includes a section specifically focussed on international development, which can be found on pages 44/45 of the document. The document highlights some specific areas of current Scottish Government policy, including its focus on health and education, and current models of funding rounds. It also presents seven key questions for response:
- What values and objectives should drive our international development strategy?
- What can be done to boost awareness amongst young people about international development?
- Should the Scottish Government’s international development funding be restricted to non-profit organisations?
- How can we maximise the value of our international development strategy, and what can be done to improve the transparency and accountability of funding?
- Should Scottish Government money be reserved to support small scale initiatives that can be implemented at a grassroots level?
- How can diaspora groups be more involved in the Scottish Government’s international development strategy?
- How do we build on Scotland’s status as a Fairtrade Nation to grow Fairtrade practices and support Fairtrade producers?
Through our Policy Committee, SIDA will produce and submit a detailed response, and we’d also welcome input from the wider membership about key points to include. Member organisations are strongly encouraged to also make their own individual submissions, focussing on their areas of expertise – and to share any individual submissions with us.
The consultation document says the “questions are there as a guide to stimulate thinking – you do not need to answer every question”. Member organisations should make sure that they include whatever key messages and policies they think are important, and perhaps consider referring to some of the themes and issues raised in SIDA’s paper From talk to transformation: How governments can really ‘shift the power’ towards global justice in their responses. We will also aim to share some more general points that members might use by 13th January. Some sections of the wider document, especially around education, social and climate justice, might also be of interest to some members.
Please contact Patrick Grady, Head of Policy and Communications – patrick@intdevalliance.scot – for more information.