Funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), UK Aid Direct was established in 2014 as a successor to the Global Poverty Action Fund (GPAF), which was created in 2010. UK Aid Direct is a challenge fund designed to support the UK’s commitments to achieving the Global Goals. The aim of UK Aid Direct is to fund small- and medium-sized national and international civil society organisations (CSOs) to reduce poverty and work towards achieving the Global Goals. Specifically, UK Aid Direct funding reaches the most marginalised and vulnerable populations, supporting the DFID agenda to ‘leave no one behind’. This agenda can be achieved through funding projects that encompass service delivery, economic empowerment, strengthening accountability or generating social change. As a flexible fund, UK Aid Direct is designed to be an adaptive and demand-led fund that responds to DFID priorities of:\n\n- Strengthening global peace, security and governance\n\n- Strengthening resilience and response to crisis\n\n- Promoting global prosperity\n\n- Tackling extreme poverty and helping the world’s most vulnerable\n\n- Delivering value for money