Westminster Foundation for Democracy (Triennial Review)

(Limited Text - Ministerial Extracts only)

Thursday 12th March 2015 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr Philip Hammond)]

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) will today publish the report of the triennial review of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), which the former Foreign Secretary, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr William Hague), launched in February 2014. The WFD currently receives funding from the FCO and the Department for International Development. The review has recommended that the WFD retain its status as a non-departmental public body at arm’s length from Government. The review also recommends a range of organisational, policy and governance measures to increase the relevance and impact of the WFD’s work, enabling it to become a world-leading organisation in the field of democracy assistance.

The Government consider the WFD an important tool for building open, inclusive and accountable democratic systems overseas, which are strongly in our national interest. We are working with the WFD and its board to ensure implementation of the review recommendations.

The review is available online at: http://www.parliament. uk/writtenstatements

[HCWS412]