In an era of shrinking aid budgets and rising global challenges, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) faces a critical question: how can it continue to lead on development while spending less?

The answer lies in strategic technical assistance (TA), a tool that not only delivers value for money, but also bridges the gap between diplomacy and development.

TA is no longer just about deploying experts or transferring knowledge. When done well, it shifts from aid to a catalytic investment that influences policy, strengthens institutions, and opens doors for deeper engagement. It’s sector-agnostic, scalable, and adaptable. And in today’s constrained funding environment, it’s one of the most powerful levers the UK has to maintain its global influence and drive meaningful change.

Take Nigeria, for example. Palladium’s Lafiya programme, which launched in 2020, has weathered a 55% budget cut yet continues to deliver outsized impact. By embedding UK experts within Nigeria’s Ministry of Health, Lafiya helped co-create a sector-wide approach to health system reform. It didn’t just advise, it built capacity, fostered ownership, and helped establish a new coordination office led by Nigerian experts. Even with reduced funding, Lafiya has remained flexible, responsive to Nigeria’s needs, and aligned with UK priorities, proving that smart TA for locally led solutions can stretch the value of every pound.

This model is not unique to Nigeria.

In Pakistan, the UK’s Evidence for Health programme partnered with the NHS and WHO to develop a national Nursing and Midwifery Policy Framework. Set to be implemented across 500 schools, the framework blends British expertise with local leadership to improve healthcare delivery and retention. It’s a clear example of how TA can scale British know-how while strengthening systems from within.

These programmes exemplify what FCDO now calls “smart technical assistance,” an approach that’s adaptive, locally led, and focused on long-term reform. The good news is that we’re already doing it. While FCDO’s recent strategy outlines where it wants to go, programmes like Lafiya and Evidence for Health show we’re ahead of the curve. They demonstrate how TA can be used not just to deliver services, but to influence policy, build trust, and maintain the UK’s seat at the table, even as other donors pull back.

This is especially important as we look to new frontiers like climate and health. TA offers a way to enter these spaces strategically, using limited resources to unlock larger reforms. It’s also a bridge between bilateral aid and the UK’s broader “One UK” agenda, connecting country-level programmes with global priorities and diplomatic goals.

Beyond government partnerships, TA can also help mobilise private finance. Programmes like Partnerships for Forests (P4F) have attracted over £1.1 billion in private investment, ten times the UK’s initial contribution, while protecting 4.4 million hectares of forest and reducing CO₂ emissions by 91 million tonnes. Similarly, the Rebuild Facility has supported over 57,000 cocoa and coffee farmers through returnable grants, proving that TA can de-risk investment and drive inclusive growth.

As we await FCDO’s next investment pipeline, the message is clear: technical assistance is not a stop gap, it’s targeted engagement. It allows the UK to remain relevant, influential, and impactful, even in a world of declining official development assistance. And it offers a blueprint for other programmes and partners to follow.

This is the story we should be telling to partner governments and the broader development community. It’s not about gloom and doom. It’s about creativity, resilience, and doing good development in tough times. Whether through events in the UK or deeper collaboration with national governments, we have the tools, the networks, and the expertise to meet the moment.

The need hasn’t gone away. Women are still dying in childbirth in Nigeria. Babies are still starving in Gaza. And in both conflict and non-conflict settings, the demand for smart, effective development is growing. Rather than retreat, we must lean in, with technical assistance that’s strategic, catalytic, and built to last.