  Left to right; Andrew Mitchell, Alan Duncan and Stephen O’Brien Photos: DFID
By Jaya Ramachandran
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis
PARIS (IDN) - A new report has praised Britain to the skies for its profound commitment to helping countries in dire need of money and a wide range of resources vital for economic and social development, but cautioned that there is ample scope for doing things better for the benefit of the taxpayer at home and the poor abroad.
Clear vision, consistent political leadership, strong human resource and financial capacity, and continued commitment to the 2013 target of providing 0.7 percent of its gross national income (GNI) as official development assistance (ODA): all this makes Britain "an international development leader in times of global crisis", says the report.
In its review of Britain's development programme, the OECD's Development Assistance Committee (DAC) says: "The UK is effective in seizing opportunities to promote development in a wider arena; for example, at the London G20 summit in 2009 it advocated for a strong development focus in the international response to the global economic crisis. It has taken a lead in a number of critical areas such as aid effectiveness, engagement in fragile states, humanitarian assistance and the reform of the international aid system."
As a result, Britain is in many ways seen as "a model by other donors". But precisely this gives the country "a special responsibility", cautions the report.
Happily, there is broad public and political support for development assistance. "However, public awareness of development aid is weak, public support for more official development assistance (ODA) is declining and public and political concerns over the effectiveness of financial aid are increasing. The aid programme is coming under greater scrutiny as its budget increases (and in light of the economic turndown)."
The report points out that the country's aid was USD 11.5 billion in 2009, representing 0.52 percent of its GNI. Its planned expenditures for 2010/11 put it on track to reach its target of 0.7 percent of GNI by 2013.
While this is laudable, in 2008, 63 percent of Britain's bilateral aid was programmed at country level, notes the report. "This percentage is higher than the DAC average of 58 percent, and demonstrates the extent of the UK's contribution to partner countries' development programmes, and scope for alignment with country-level decision-making processes and priorities."
The Department for International Development (DFID) -- responsible for promoting development and the reduction of global poverty -- continues to deliver the bulk of British aid that amounted to 86 percent in 2008.
Since the 2006 OECD-DAC peer review, DFID has taken further steps to concentrate its bilateral programme geographically, and approximately 90 percent of its bilateral programme is now concentrated in 23 countries. Since 2002, DFID has closed offices or programmes in 36 countries.
"However, non-DFID ODA remains more fragmented," states the report. "The UK does not report on the impact or value for money of this assistance -- a situation which could be improved. Further consideration could be given to how aid delivered by departments other than DFID is allocated as its development impact is less clear."
MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
There is a strong focus in British ODA on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) aimed at halving poverty by 2015, as reflected in both the allocation of bilateral aid to low income countries (LICs) – 61 percent of total ODA in 2008 -- and the emphasis on social infrastructure and services, which has grown over time.
However, the recent graduation of countries such as India to middle income status has resulted in a slight decline in the proportion of ODA allocated to LICs. "Where it engages in middle income countries (MICs) such as India, the UK should sustain its focus on poverty reduction," advises the report.
It adds: "In line with the findings of the 2006 peer review, the UK continues to make significant use of sector and thematic spending targets, with 32 percent of DFID's ODA affected by such targets, primarily in health and education. The problem with these targets is that they can undermine DFID's ability to align with partner country priorities, so it is important that DFID continues to manage them carefully."
POLICY COHERENCE
The report addresses the significance of promoting policy coherence for development, and says: "The UK is highly committed to ensuring that all of its domestic and international policies support, or at least do not undermine, partner countries' development aspirations."
Its 2009 white paper provides an overarching plan for coherence around three key priority areas: poverty reduction and economic growth (including trade), climate change and conflict.
Britain promotes coherence of its domestic and foreign policies with its development efforts in two main ways: (i) the Secretary of State (Minister) for International Development participates in the cabinet and in cabinet committees; and (ii) the PSAs (parliamentary state secretaries) establish strategic cross-government objectives and targets to which several departments contribute. In practice, cross-government approaches have been strengthened both in headquarters and the field.
This is especially true for trade (whose sub-committee is chaired by the Secretary of State for International Development), climate change and conflict, with closer links developed between the aid, foreign policy and defence communities.
The report appreciates that DFID has made considerable progress in improving how it works across government and it is increasingly called on to work more with other UK government departments. By clearly specifying DFID’s objectives, the International Development Act 2002 has helped to ensure that the potentially competing objectives of other foreign policy, trade, climate change and national security priorities do not overwhelm development objectives.
The report's advice: "In the coming years, DFID should continue to rely on its clear poverty reduction mandate to avoid its mission being diluted when engaging with other government departments. Conversely, being at the core of the UK government should enable DFID to ensure that the machinery of government as a whole supports effective cross-government working on international policies and priorities, resulting in UK policies that are consistent with its development objectives. To do so, it should continue to use both internal and external analytical capacity to inform government discussions with strong evidence on policy inter-linkages and their impacts on development."
The government is asked to broaden its efforts and deepen its commitment to the policy coherence for development agenda in selected new areas of government policy, bearing in mind the European Union (EU) platform for policy coherence for development.
"This requires the UK government to set out a common agenda with clearly prioritised and time-bound objectives. Relevant government departments should then fully assume responsibility for each selected area, guided by solid evidence."
The International Development (Reporting and Transparency) Act 2006 obliges DFID to report every year on the impact of British policies on development, and DFID has included policy coherence indicators in several strategic objectives.
RECOMMENDATIONS
"However, the UK can further improve its monitoring, assessing and reporting to the public and parliament on the impact of its policy coherence for development efforts. It is encouraging that DFID’s new evaluation policy plans to assess policy coherence issues," notes the report.
To maintain its position as a leading development player, Britain is advised to:
- Retain the aid programme's clear focus on poverty reduction as the UK broadens its development agenda and DFID engages further with other government departments.
- Prioritise policies and streamline objectives derived from the public service agreements and white papers around core priorities linked clearly to the MDGs.
- Ensure that the stronger focus on results and communication supports partner country priorities, and that the UK is accountable both to its partner countries and domestic stakeholders.
- Include in the common government agenda for policy coherence for development some additional priority areas in which to promote further development concerns in line with the EU policy coherence platform.
- Improve how the UK measures, monitors and reports to parliament and the public on the impact of its domestic and foreign policies on partner countries' development results.
In order to maintain the credibility of its aid programme while "doing more with less", the report advises Britain to:
- Retain its powerful institutional system. This includes a development co-operation department with a seat in cabinet and a clear poverty reduction mandate, as well as a decentralised and flexible approach with a capacity to engage on long-term development objectives.
- Maintain DFID's front-line (programme) staffing levels and keep a critical mass of expertise in-house, including sector specialists. This will mean developing further DFID's medium-term workforce planning system.
- Streamline DFID's reporting requirements further; continue efforts to develop an evaluation culture and to use evaluations as forward-looking management tools.
Britain can "consolidate its leading role as a good humanitarian donor" by identifying the appropriate mix of humanitarian and peace-building/state-building approaches in conflict-affected and fragile states; strengthening the performance framework for humanitarian action; and clarifying how other corporate policies intersect with the humanitarian decision-making processes. (IDN-InDepthNews/11.07.2010)
Copyright © 2010 IDN-InDepthNews | Analysis That Matters
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External link:
http://www.oecd.org/document/35/0,3343,en_2649_34603_45518819_1_1_1_1,00.html
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