Department for International Development
Encyclopedia
The Department For International Development (DFID) is a United Kingdom
government department with a Cabinet Minister in charge. It was separated from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
in 1997. The goal of the department is "to promote sustainable development and eliminate world poverty". The current Secretary of State for International Development
is Andrew Mitchell
. A 2010 report by the Development Assistance Committee
(DAC) identified DFID as 'an international development leader in times of global crisis'.
DFID's main programme areas of work are Education, Health, Social Services, Water Supply and Sanitation, Government and Civil Society, Economic Sector (including Infrastructure, Production Sectors and Developing Planning), Environment Protection, Research, and Humanitarian Assistance.
In 2009/10 DFID’s Gross Public Expenditure on Development was £6.65bn. Of this £3.96bn was spent on Bilateral Aid (including debt relief, humanitarian assistance and project funding) and £2.46bn was spent on Multilateral Aid (including support to the EU, World Bank, UN and other related agencies). Although the Department for International Development’s foreign aid budget was not affected by the cuts outlined by the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s 2010 spending review, DFID will see their administration budgets slashed by approximately 19 percent over the next four years. This would mean a reduction in back-office costs to account for only 2 percent of their total spend by 2015.
The National Audit Office
(NAO) 2009 Performance Management review looks at how DFID has restructured its performance management arrangements over the last 6 years. The report responded to a request from DFID’s Accounting Officer to re-visit the topic periodically, which the Comptroller and Auditor General agreed would be valuable. The study found that DFID had improved in its general scrutiny of progress in reducing poverty and of progress towards divisional goals, however noted that there was still clear scope for further improvement.
The Permanent Secretary
from 2008 until the end of March 2011 at DFID was Nemat (Minouche) Shafik. The current Permanent Secretary is Mark Lowcock.
After the election of a Conservative government in October 1970, the Ministry of Overseas Development was incorporated into the Foreign Office and renamed the Overseas Development Administration (ODA). The ODA was overseen by a minister of state in the Foreign Office who was accountable to the Foreign Secretary. Though it became a section of the Foreign Office, the ODA was relatively self-contained with its own minister, and the policies, procedures, and staff remained largely intact.
When it was returned to office in 1974, the Labour government announced that there would once again be a separate Ministry of Overseas Development with its own minister. From June 1975 the powers of the minister for overseas development were formally transferred to the foreign secretary.
In 1977, partly to shore up its difficult relations with U.K. business, the government introduced the Aid and Trade Provision. This enabled aid to be linked to nonconcessionary export credits, with both aid and export credits tied to procurement of British goods and services. Pressure for this provision from U.K. businesses and the Department of Trade and Industry arose in part because of the introduction of French mixed credit programs, which had begun to offer French government support from aid funds for exports, including for projects in countries to which France had not previously given substantial aid.
After the election of the Conservatives under Margaret Thatcher in 1979, the ministry was transferred back to the Foreign Office, as a functional wing again named the Overseas Development Administration. The ODA continued to be represented in the cabinet by the foreign secretary while the minister for overseas development, who had day-to-day responsibility for development matters, held the rank of minister of state within the Foreign Office.
In the 1980s part of the agency's operations were relocated to East Kilbride, with a view to creating jobs in an area subject to long-term industrial decline.
Along with the Nordic countries
DfID has generally avoided setting up its own programs as that can create unnecessary bureaucracy. To achieve this DfID currently distributes most of its money to governments and other international organisations that have already developed suitable programmes and lets them distribute the money as efficiently as possible.
In 2010 DfID were criticised for spending around £15 million a year in the UK, although this only accounts for 0.25% of their total budget. £1.85 million was given to the Foreign Office
to fund the Papal visit
of Pope Benedict in September 2010, although a department spokesman said that "The contribution recognised the Catholic Church's role as a major provider of health and education services in developing countries". There has also been criticism of some spending by international organisations with UNESCO
and the FAO
being particularly weak. The government were also criticised for increasing the aid budget at a time where other departments were being cut. The head of the conservative pressure group Taxpayers Alliance said that "The department should at least get the same treatment other high priority areas like science did – a cash freeze would save billions.".
(R v Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Ex p The World Development Movement
) brought by the World Development Movement
, the High Court
held that the then-Foreign Secretary, Douglas Hurd
had acted ultra vires
(outside of his power and therefore illegally) by allocating £234 million towards the funding of the dam, on the grounds that it was not of economic or humanitarian benefit to the Malaysian people.
the focus of DFID's work, and effectively outlaws tied aid
.
As well as responding to disasters and emergencies, DFID works to support the United Nations
' eight "Millennium Development Goals
", namely to:
all with a 2015 deadline.
The reality may well be that none of these goals will be achieved so long as the trade gap between Africa and richer countries continues to widen. Former Secretary of State Hilary Benn has indicated that on current trends, we will not achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Although by 2010, mainly thanks to high growth in India and China who had 62% of the world's poor in 1990 there has been significant global progress towards meeting the millennium goals.
In 2010 the incoming coalition government promised to reduce back-office costs to only 2% of the budget and to improve transparency by publishing more on their website.
, but global research investments are insufficient to match needs and do not focus on the priorities of the poor. Many technological and policy innovations require an international scale of research effort. For example, DFID was a major donor to the International LUBILOSA
Programme: which developed a biological pesticide for locust
control in support of small-holder farmers in the Sahel
.
DFID Research commissions research to help fill this gap, aiming to ensure tangible outcomes on the livelihoods of the poor worldwide. They also seek to influence the international and UK research agendas, putting poverty reduction and the needs of the poor at the forefront of global research efforts.
DFID Research manages long-term research initiatives that cut across individual countries or regions, and only funds activities if there are clear opportunities and mechanisms for the research to have a significant impact on poverty.
Research is funded through a range of mechanisms, including Research Programme Consortia (RPCs), jointly with other funders of development research, with UK Research Councils and with multilateral agencies (such as the World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organisation, World Health Organisation). Information on both DFID current research programmes and completed research can be found on the Research4Development (R4D) portal.
DFID launched its first Research Strategy in April 2008. This emphasises DFID's commitment to funding high quality research that aims to find solutions and ways of reducing global poverty. The new strategy identifies six priorities:
The strategy also highlights three important cross-cutting areas, where DFID will invest more funding:
DFID has recently reviewed progress on its Research Strategy http://www.research4development.info/ResearchStrategyAnniversary.asp
."
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
government department with a Cabinet Minister in charge. It was separated from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
in 1997. The goal of the department is "to promote sustainable development and eliminate world poverty". The current Secretary of State for International Development
Secretary of State for International Development
In the United Kingdom, the Secretary of State for International Development is a Cabinet minister responsible for the Department for International Development and for promoting development overseas, particularly in the third world...
is Andrew Mitchell
Andrew Mitchell
The Right Honourable Andrew John Bower Mitchell MP is a British Conservative Party politician and the Member of Parliament for Sutton Coldfield...
. A 2010 report by the Development Assistance Committee
Development Assistance Committee
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Development Assistance Committee is a forum for selected OECD member states to discuss issues surrounding aid, development and poverty reduction in developing countries...
(DAC) identified DFID as 'an international development leader in times of global crisis'.
DFID's main programme areas of work are Education, Health, Social Services, Water Supply and Sanitation, Government and Civil Society, Economic Sector (including Infrastructure, Production Sectors and Developing Planning), Environment Protection, Research, and Humanitarian Assistance.
In 2009/10 DFID’s Gross Public Expenditure on Development was £6.65bn. Of this £3.96bn was spent on Bilateral Aid (including debt relief, humanitarian assistance and project funding) and £2.46bn was spent on Multilateral Aid (including support to the EU, World Bank, UN and other related agencies). Although the Department for International Development’s foreign aid budget was not affected by the cuts outlined by the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s 2010 spending review, DFID will see their administration budgets slashed by approximately 19 percent over the next four years. This would mean a reduction in back-office costs to account for only 2 percent of their total spend by 2015.
The National Audit Office
National Audit Office
National Audit Office can refer to:* Australian National Audit Office* National Audit Office * National Audit Office of the People's Republic of China* Swedish National Audit Office...
(NAO) 2009 Performance Management review looks at how DFID has restructured its performance management arrangements over the last 6 years. The report responded to a request from DFID’s Accounting Officer to re-visit the topic periodically, which the Comptroller and Auditor General agreed would be valuable. The study found that DFID had improved in its general scrutiny of progress in reducing poverty and of progress towards divisional goals, however noted that there was still clear scope for further improvement.
Ministers
The DFID Ministers are as follows:| Minister | Rank | Portfolio (by geographic region) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell Andrew Mitchell The Right Honourable Andrew John Bower Mitchell MP is a British Conservative Party politician and the Member of Parliament for Sutton Coldfield... MP |
Secretary of State Secretary of State for International Development In the United Kingdom, the Secretary of State for International Development is a Cabinet minister responsible for the Department for International Development and for promoting development overseas, particularly in the third world... |
Overall responsibility (includes Afghanistan & Pakistan and the Middle East peace process) |
|
| The Rt Hon Alan Duncan Alan Duncan Alan James Carter Duncan is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Rutland and Melton, and a Minister of State in the Department for International Development.... MP |
Minister of State | Asia, Middle East, Caribbean and British Overseas Territories British overseas territories The British Overseas Territories are fourteen territories of the United Kingdom which, although they do not form part of the United Kingdom itself, fall under its jurisdiction. They are remnants of the British Empire that have not acquired independence or have voted to remain British territories... |
|
| Stephen O'Brien MP | Parliamentary Under Secretary of State | Africa, European Union European Union The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958... |
| Key | Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House... |
|---|---|
| Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrats The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the... |
The Permanent Secretary
Permanent Secretary
The Permanent secretary, in most departments officially titled the permanent under-secretary of state , is the most senior civil servant of a British Government ministry, charged with running the department on a day-to-day basis...
from 2008 until the end of March 2011 at DFID was Nemat (Minouche) Shafik. The current Permanent Secretary is Mark Lowcock.
History
The Department has its origins in the Ministry of Overseas Development (ODM) created during the Labour government of 1964–70, which combined the functions of the Department of Technical Cooperation and the overseas aid policy functions of the Foreign, Commonwealth Relations, and Colonial Offices and of other government departments.After the election of a Conservative government in October 1970, the Ministry of Overseas Development was incorporated into the Foreign Office and renamed the Overseas Development Administration (ODA). The ODA was overseen by a minister of state in the Foreign Office who was accountable to the Foreign Secretary. Though it became a section of the Foreign Office, the ODA was relatively self-contained with its own minister, and the policies, procedures, and staff remained largely intact.
When it was returned to office in 1974, the Labour government announced that there would once again be a separate Ministry of Overseas Development with its own minister. From June 1975 the powers of the minister for overseas development were formally transferred to the foreign secretary.
In 1977, partly to shore up its difficult relations with U.K. business, the government introduced the Aid and Trade Provision. This enabled aid to be linked to nonconcessionary export credits, with both aid and export credits tied to procurement of British goods and services. Pressure for this provision from U.K. businesses and the Department of Trade and Industry arose in part because of the introduction of French mixed credit programs, which had begun to offer French government support from aid funds for exports, including for projects in countries to which France had not previously given substantial aid.
After the election of the Conservatives under Margaret Thatcher in 1979, the ministry was transferred back to the Foreign Office, as a functional wing again named the Overseas Development Administration. The ODA continued to be represented in the cabinet by the foreign secretary while the minister for overseas development, who had day-to-day responsibility for development matters, held the rank of minister of state within the Foreign Office.
In the 1980s part of the agency's operations were relocated to East Kilbride, with a view to creating jobs in an area subject to long-term industrial decline.
Role
Over its history the department for international development and its predecessors have been independent departments or part of the foreign office. In 1997 Labour separated the Department for International Development from the Foreign Office. They also reduced the amount of aid tied to purchasing British goods and services which often led to aid being spent ineffectually.Along with the Nordic countries
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
DfID has generally avoided setting up its own programs as that can create unnecessary bureaucracy. To achieve this DfID currently distributes most of its money to governments and other international organisations that have already developed suitable programmes and lets them distribute the money as efficiently as possible.
| In Cabinet | Outside Cabinet | |
|---|---|---|
| Separate Government Department | 1964-67 1997–present |
1961-64 1967-70 1974-75 |
| Answerable to the FCO | 1975-76 | 1970-74 1977-79 1979-97 |
In 2010 DfID were criticised for spending around £15 million a year in the UK, although this only accounts for 0.25% of their total budget. £1.85 million was given to the Foreign Office
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
to fund the Papal visit
Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United Kingdom
Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United Kingdom from 16 to 19 September 2010 was the first state visit by a pope to the United Kingdom...
of Pope Benedict in September 2010, although a department spokesman said that "The contribution recognised the Catholic Church's role as a major provider of health and education services in developing countries". There has also been criticism of some spending by international organisations with UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
and the FAO
Fão
Fão is a town in Esposende Municipality in Portugal....
being particularly weak. The government were also criticised for increasing the aid budget at a time where other departments were being cut. The head of the conservative pressure group Taxpayers Alliance said that "The department should at least get the same treatment other high priority areas like science did – a cash freeze would save billions.".
Pergau Dam
When it was the Overseas Development Association, a scandal erupted concerning the UK funding of a hydroelectric dam on the Pergau River in Malaysia, near the Thai border. Building work began in 1991 with money from the UK foreign aid budget. Concurrently, the Malaysian government bought around £1 billion worth of arms from the UK. The suggested linkage of arms deals to aid became the subject of a UK government inquiry from March 1994. In November 1994, after an application for judicial reviewJudicial review
Judicial review is the doctrine under which legislative and executive actions are subject to review by the judiciary. Specific courts with judicial review power must annul the acts of the state when it finds them incompatible with a higher authority...
(R v Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Ex p The World Development Movement
R v Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Ex p The World Development Movement
R v Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Ex p The World Development Movement is a judicial review case in English law in which the World Development Movement challenged the decision of Britain's Foreign Secretary to spend £234m on a development project on Malaysia's Pergau Dam.At the time, the...
) brought by the World Development Movement
World Development Movement
The World Development Movement is a membership organisation in the United Kingdom which campaigns on issues of global justice and development in the Global South....
, the High Court
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
held that the then-Foreign Secretary, Douglas Hurd
Douglas Hurd
Douglas Richard Hurd, Baron Hurd of Westwell, CH, CBE, PC , is a British Conservative politician and novelist, who served in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major between 1979 and his retirement in 1995....
had acted ultra vires
Ultra vires
Ultra vires is a Latin phrase meaning literally "beyond the powers", although its standard legal translation and substitute is "beyond power". If an act requires legal authority and it is done with such authority, it is...
(outside of his power and therefore illegally) by allocating £234 million towards the funding of the dam, on the grounds that it was not of economic or humanitarian benefit to the Malaysian people.
Mission
The main piece of legislation governing DFID's work is the International Development Act, which came into force on 17 June 2002, replacing the Overseas Development and Co-operation Act (1980). The Act makes poverty reductionPoverty reduction
Poverty is the state of human beings who are poor. That is, they have little or no material means of surviving—little or no food, shelter, clothes, healthcare, education, and other physical means of living and improving one's life....
the focus of DFID's work, and effectively outlaws tied aid
Tied aid
Tied aid is foreign aid that must be spent in the country providing the aid or in a group of selected countries. A developed country will provide a bilateral loan or grant to a developing country, but mandate that the money be spent on goods or services produced in the selected country...
.
As well as responding to disasters and emergencies, DFID works to support the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
' eight "Millennium Development Goals
Millennium Development Goals
The Millennium Development Goals are eight international development goals that all 193 United Nations member states and at least 23 international organizations have agreed to achieve by the year 2015...
", namely to:
- halve the number of people living in extreme poverty and hunger
- ensure that all children receive primary education
- promote sexual equality and give women a stronger voice
- reduce child death rates
- improve the health of mothers
- combat HIV & AIDS, malaria and other diseases
- make sure the environment is protected
- build a global partnership for those working in development.
all with a 2015 deadline.
The reality may well be that none of these goals will be achieved so long as the trade gap between Africa and richer countries continues to widen. Former Secretary of State Hilary Benn has indicated that on current trends, we will not achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Although by 2010, mainly thanks to high growth in India and China who had 62% of the world's poor in 1990 there has been significant global progress towards meeting the millennium goals.
In 2010 the incoming coalition government promised to reduce back-office costs to only 2% of the budget and to improve transparency by publishing more on their website.
DFID research
DFID is the largest bilateral donor of development-focused research. New science, technologies and ideas are crucial for the achievement of the Millennium Development GoalsMillennium Development Goals
The Millennium Development Goals are eight international development goals that all 193 United Nations member states and at least 23 international organizations have agreed to achieve by the year 2015...
, but global research investments are insufficient to match needs and do not focus on the priorities of the poor. Many technological and policy innovations require an international scale of research effort. For example, DFID was a major donor to the International LUBILOSA
LUBILOSA
LUBILOSA was the name of a research programme that aimed at developing a biological alternative to the chemical control of locusts. This name is an acronym of the French title of the programme: Lutte Biologique contre les Locustes et les Sauteriaux...
Programme: which developed a biological pesticide for locust
Locust
Locusts are the swarming phase of short-horned grasshoppers of the family Acrididae. These are species that can breed rapidly under suitable conditions and subsequently become gregarious and migratory...
control in support of small-holder farmers in the Sahel
Sahel
The Sahel is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic zone of transition between the Sahara desert in the North and the Sudanian Savannas in the south.It stretches across the North African continent between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea....
.
DFID Research commissions research to help fill this gap, aiming to ensure tangible outcomes on the livelihoods of the poor worldwide. They also seek to influence the international and UK research agendas, putting poverty reduction and the needs of the poor at the forefront of global research efforts.
DFID Research manages long-term research initiatives that cut across individual countries or regions, and only funds activities if there are clear opportunities and mechanisms for the research to have a significant impact on poverty.
Research is funded through a range of mechanisms, including Research Programme Consortia (RPCs), jointly with other funders of development research, with UK Research Councils and with multilateral agencies (such as the World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organisation, World Health Organisation). Information on both DFID current research programmes and completed research can be found on the Research4Development (R4D) portal.
DFID launched its first Research Strategy in April 2008. This emphasises DFID's commitment to funding high quality research that aims to find solutions and ways of reducing global poverty. The new strategy identifies six priorities:
- Growth
- Health
- Sustainable Agriculture
- Climate Change
- Governance in Challenging Environments
- Future Challenges and Opportunities
The strategy also highlights three important cross-cutting areas, where DFID will invest more funding:
- Capacity Building
- Research Communication and Uptake
- Stimulating Demand for Research
DFID has recently reviewed progress on its Research Strategy http://www.research4development.info/ResearchStrategyAnniversary.asp
UKaid Rebranding
As of July 2009, DFID embarked on a rebranding effort in the developing world in order to make clear that its contributions are coming from the United Kingdom. While the decision was met with some controversy among aid workers, Commons International Development Select Committee Chairman Malcolm Bruce justified the rebranding, claiming that "the name DfID does not reflect the fact that this is a British organisation; it could be anything. The Americans have USAID, Canada has got CIDACanadian International Development Agency
The Canadian International Development Agency was formed in 1968 by the Canadian government. CIDA administers foreign aid programs in developing countries, and operates in partnership with other Canadian organizations in the public and private sectors as well as other international organizations...
."
See also
- Consortium of British Humanitarian AgenciesConsortium of British Humanitarian AgenciesThe Consortium of British Humanitarian Agencies consists of 15 UK based NGOs - ActionAid, Action Against Hunger, CARE International UK, CAFOD, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide UK, Helpage International, International Rescue Committee, Islamic Relief Worldwide, Merlin, Oxfam GB, Plan International...
- United Kingdom budgetUnited Kingdom budgetThe United Kingdom budget deals with HM Treasury budgeting the revenues gathered by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and expenditures of public sector departments, in compliance with government policy.Adjustment is achieved with the GDP deflator....
- Stabilisation UnitStabilisation UnitThe Stabilisation Unit is an interdepartmental agency of the UK government; it is jointly owned by the FCO, the DFID, and the MOD. It aims to support fragile states and countries emerging from conflict, where close cooperation between international agencies, the military, and civilian personnel is...
External links
- DFID Homepage
- NL-Aid
- Article on DFID's use of consultants
- DFID's Research4Development (R4D) portal, which provides information on DFID-funded research
- CE-DAT: the Complex Emergency Database Managed by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of DisastersCentre for Research on the Epidemiology of DisastersThe Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters is a research unit of the Université catholique de Louvain . It is situated at the School of Public Health of the Brussels campus of the university....
- MyPlatform2 A new initiative set up by DFID to encourage British youths from deprived backgrounds to get some experience in International Development.