As UK cuts aid, we must harness science for humanitarian projects

George Richards is director of Community Jameel, an independent, global organisation that advances science and learning for communities to thrive.

The cuts to British overseas aid – following similar cuts by U.S. and French counterparts – present a challenge: with less money but more violent conflicts and more disasters caused by extreme weather and climate change, how can Britain still help desperately vulnerable people around the world?

Responding to humanitarian emergencies requires money – to pay for food, equipment, logistics and staff. The bald truth is, therefore, that nothing can plug the gap left by the funding cuts.

But there are ways to soften the blow.

By scaling up coordination between scientists and humanitarian organisations, the British government can harness innovations in medicine, engineering and artificial intelligence to support brave aid workers on the frontlines of crises.  

Britain is a leader in both humanitarian aid and scientific research, especially life sciences.

In war zones and disasters around the world, I have seen Save the Children take the lead in safeguarding and protecting children and UK-Med deploy off-duty clinicians from Britain’s National Health Service to deliver life-saving care in field hospitals. 

Three of the top five universities in the world are British – Imperial, Oxford and Cambridge – and they are nurturing new technologies and industries, from biotech startups to AI endeavours like DeepMind.

By combining British expertise in both humanitarianism and science, the government can increase the impact of its funding – stretching the pound. More importantly, a humanitarian response powered by world-class innovations in science and technology can be more effective in caring for people whose lives have been devastated by war and disaster.

Spurring innovation

The first step – and not an expensive one – is simply to widen the channels of communication. This is not a question of will – scientists tend to be eager to see their inventions put to use to help the most needy, and aid workers will embrace technologies that mean they can help more people. There must be more bridges between laboratories and humanitarian frontlines.

Last year, I co-chaired a meeting at Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) that brought together scientists and humanitarian organisations to support the Gaza humanitarian response.

Out of that meeting, data scientists from Imperial’s Jameel Institute and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, with a consortium of humanitarian partners, including U.N. agencies and Médecins sans Frontières, launched a modelling platform that provides information in real-time to frontline humanitarian actors on where to prioritise vaccinations, how outbreaks of infectious diseases are spreading, where trauma specialists are needed, and so on.

It is being deployed in Gaza and Sudan.

Similarly, in 2023, Save the Children and Imperial joined forces to launch the Centre for Paediatric Blast Injury Studies, the world’s first centre dedicated to studying and providing life-saving innovations to children injured by explosive weapons.

Community Jameel, the organisation I direct, has supported the centre as part of a package of funding to Save the Children for the Gaza emergency response, which includes support and specialist training for clinical staff and first responders providing treatment and care to children who have been injured by explosives. 

Build on existing efforts

Britain’s Foreign Office has already laid the ground for better coordination between scientists and humanitarians. Its Science and Technology Network, with outposts at embassies around the world, has supported the delivery of life-saving research in emergencies, and the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub funds rapid response research and brokers collaborations between researchers and humanitarians.

The FCDO is now studying how AI can be used safely and effectively in humanitarian emergencies and, with Canadian counterparts, leads the AI for Development initiative that emerged from the Bletchley Park summit in 2023.

Improved coordination between researchers and humanitarians cannot replace the aid funding that Britain has cut, but the government can – and should – take steps to staunch the losses.

With so many millions of people desperate for aid in the face of war, disaster and forced displacement, fostering practical collaborations between frontline aid workers and lab-coat scientists can work to great effect and save more lives.