BBC News: Overseas aid: Stewart says funding may be shifted ‘away from humans’
“Overseas aid funding may need to be shifted away from humans to the natural environment to protect the planet and reduce poverty, Rory Stewart has said. The international development secretary told MPs hard decisions would be needed if the U.K. was serious about mitigating the impact of climate change globally…” (6/26).

Devex: Rory Stewart: DFID may come under greater FCO control
“Despite fears that the U.K. Department for International Development could be merged with the Foreign & Commonwealth Office under a new prime minister, aid chief Rory Stewart has predicted that scenario is unlikely — but warned the department could face a ‘reorganization’ that sees it brought under greater FCO control. … Stewart’s prediction has worried members of the aid community who have long expressed concerns about what a [Boris] Johnson premiership could mean for DFID. They argue that FCO has a poor track record when it comes to spending aid money effectively and transparently, whereas DFID has performed consistently well across a series of reports…” (Edwards, 6/27).

The Guardian: Rory Stewart: Boris Johnson win would bring DfID tenure to ‘heartbreaking’ end
“Rory Stewart has said it would be ‘heartbreaking’ to leave his job as international development secretary were Boris Johnson to become the next prime minister. Stewart, an anti no-deal candidate who was knocked out of the Tory leadership contest after last week after a television debate, has vowed not to serve in a Johnson cabinet. … Stewart said he expected Johnson to retain the 0.7% target of gross national income for overseas aid, and hoped DFID would remain a standalone department despite Johnson’s previous suggestions that it should be brought into the Foreign Office…” (McVeigh, 6/26).

The Telegraph: U.K. aid should focus on climate and putting British experts into the field
“International development secretary Rory Stewart has said that U.K. aid must focus on ‘quality not quantity.’ … ‘I’m trying to move the department away from saying we have educated 60 million girls to focusing on whether they’re really learning to read and write. So I’ve been moving to more of a focus on inspection and quality. ‘And making sure it isn’t just a question of girls sitting in school for seven hours but what are they really learning,’ he said. … Mr. Stewart was speaking to reporters at Torriano Primary School in Camden, north London, which he was visiting to speak to pupils about the U.K.’s progress towards the United Nation’s Global Goals, also known as the Sustainable Development Goals….” (Gulland, 6/26).