Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department’s support to human rights defenders on the ground; and what plans he has to increase that support.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
DFID works closely with the FCO on safeguarding of Human Rights Defenders. Support on the ground includes lobbying and programming for safe and open spaces for civil society and human rights defenders to operate. Officials monitor programme outcomes and regularly consult with civil society and directly with Human Rights Defenders to improve our response.
DFID’s Governance for Growth, Stability and Inclusive Development paper, published in March, set a refreshed strategic direction for our work on governance, with a renewed focus on protecting democratic space, where this is under threat, and supporting the rule of law and civic freedoms. A new programme, led by a UK human rights organisation, Article 19, will pilot responses to shrinking civic space and pressure on independent media and civil society.
This month, the FCO published a new document, ‘UK support for Human Rights Defenders’, which reflects the importance of human rights defenders and the support the UK provides to them through its network of embassies and high commissions. Human Rights Defenders and civil society organisations were consulted on the document prior to its publication.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps he will take to ensure that, in line with the UN Statement of Common Understanding, a human-rights based approach is integrated within his Department's development co-operation and programming.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The UK is committed to respecting, promoting and protecting universal human rights. Respect for human rights is important in itself and for achieving stable, inclusive and prosperous societies. Human rights underpin freedom, democracy and rule of law and form the basis of the Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs are at the heart of the UK Aid Strategy and the Department’s new Single Departmental Plan which guide DFID’s strategic decision-making.
DFID country offices’ planning processes take account of interdisciplinary analysis, including a country’s progress toward achieving the SDGs, and our aid relationships involve consideration of partner governments’ commitment to human rights.
DFID carries out, and regularly reviews, programme risk assessments, including the risks of unintended harm to people and to the environment, and our Supply Partner Code of Conduct sets high, legally enforceable standards for ethical behaviour and compliance with human rights by our suppliers in the delivery of DFID contracts.
DFID’s position paper, Governance for Growth, Stability and Inclusive Development, published in March, set a refreshed strategic direction for DFID’s work on governance, including a renewed focus on protecting democratic space, where this is under threat, and supporting the rule of law and civic freedoms. It is a key reference document for future planning.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans he has to ensure that his Department's strategic decision-making is explicitly guided by human rights principles and instruments.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The UK is committed to respecting, promoting and protecting universal human rights. Respect for human rights is important in itself and for achieving stable, inclusive and prosperous societies. Human rights underpin freedom, democracy and rule of law and form the basis of the Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs are at the heart of the UK Aid Strategy and the Department’s new Single Departmental Plan which guide DFID’s strategic decision-making.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps he will take to further integrate human rights considerations into his Department's country-level programming, particularly in human rights priority countries.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The UK is committed to respecting, promoting and protecting universal human rights. Respect for human rights is important in itself and for achieving stable, inclusive and prosperous societies. Human rights underpin freedom, democracy and rule of law and form the basis of the Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs are at the heart of the UK Aid Strategy and the Department’s new Single Departmental Plan which guide DFID’s strategic decision-making.
DFID country offices’ planning processes take account of interdisciplinary analysis, including a country’s progress toward achieving the SDGs, and our aid relationships involve consideration of partner governments’ commitment to human rights.
DFID carries out, and regularly reviews, programme risk assessments, including the risks of unintended harm to people and to the environment, and our Supply Partner Code of Conduct sets high, legally enforceable standards for ethical behaviour and compliance with human rights by our suppliers in the delivery of DFID contracts.
DFID’s position paper, Governance for Growth, Stability and Inclusive Development, published in March, set a refreshed strategic direction for DFID’s work on governance, including a renewed focus on protecting democratic space, where this is under threat, and supporting the rule of law and civic freedoms. It is a key reference document for future planning.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if he will take steps to make funding more accessible to civil society organisations in his Department's partner countries.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
In financial year 2016-17, DFID spent £1.3 billion funding the work of civil society. DFID provides assistance to strengthen civil society in the UK and overseas through capacity building support and funding opportunities. This assistance is delivered through our centrally-managed programmes and our country programmes.
DFID is acting to increase support to CSOs based in developing countries. We are broadening out some of our centrally-managed programmes to accept bids from Southern-based CSOs. This includes UK Aid Direct, DFID’s centrally-managed programme for small and medium civil society organisations. The most recent UK Aid Direct funding round was fully open to bids from Southern-based CSOs for the first time.
In addition, through UK Aid Connect we are funding programmes specifically targeted at enhancing civil society effectiveness in the UK and overseas.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 13 February 2019 to Question 217654, what steps were taken to determine which Grand Bargain commitments are the most critical enablers of transformative change.
Answered by Alistair Burt
DFID is committed to the Grand Bargain. We are focussing on areas which are central to the UK’s Humanitarian Reform Policy of saving as many lives as possible in humanitarian crises, whilst ensuring value for money in the prioritised allocation of humanitarian resources - where DFID can have the strongest impact on achieving a more effective, efficient and accountable humanitarian system.
Evidence shows that cash can be cheaper to deliver and more effective than sending goods in-kind. Cash promotes the dignity of crisis affected populations by allowing them to prioritise needs themselves, and can contribute to supporting local markets in times of crisis. DFID co-leads the Grand Bargain workstream on cash and has been a world-leader in driving the increased use of cash in humanitarian response.
Accountability to people in crises is critical to improving the quality and impact of humanitarian assistance. Through our Grand Bargain commitments, we are working closely with other donors and aid organisations to ensure people receiving aid are included in the decisions which affect their lives.
The introduction of independent Joint Needs Assessments is vital to ensure a strong evidence-base, which leads to a stronger prioritisation of humanitarian assistance in responses based on the severity and urgency of need. This has the potential to reduce conflicts of interest between agencies fundraising for their own appeals, ensure better value for money and introduce more accountability into the system.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans her Department has to collect data on the transaction costs incurred by her Department’s reporting requirements for UN humanitarian agencies.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK will continue to be a good humanitarian donor who lives up to its Grand Bargain commitments. We provide 30% of our humanitarian funding as core or unearmarked funds. The Grand Bargain workstream on reducing earmarking noted that this flexible funding can reduce grant management transaction costs, amongst other benefits.
We do not plan to undertake an analysis of the transaction costs of our reporting requirements. Collecting data on transaction costs across all of our humanitarian funding would be extremely resource intensive and the results would vary considerably, reflecting the specific context, access constraints and the volume of funding we are providing. However, DFID retains a dialogue with UN partners, where issues of this nature can be raised.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 13 February 2019 to Question 217656, what steps are being taken to streamline and standardise her Department’s reporting requirements for UN agencies.
Answered by Alistair Burt
Where possible, DFID aims to draw on partners’ existing reporting systems and management information to monitor and evaluate our programmes. For example, our UN core funding is linked directly to agencies’ own results frameworks and annual reporting cycles. In addition, where DFID co-funds UN programmes with other donors, where possible, joint reporting arrangements are put in place.
However, large, complex projects in high risk contexts expecting to deliver big results may require additional reporting. As set out in our management response to the ICAI review of the UK’s approach to funding the UN humanitarian system, we will soon launch a new programme delivery learning package for staff to support greater understanding and consistency of reporting requirements across DFID’s country network. We will also look to ensure that lessons generated through the Grand Bargain harmonised reporting pilots process inform our approach to reporting, whilst still ensuring close oversight and accountability for tax payer funds.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the need for reporting requirements on multilateral aid contributions in addition to those delivered in adherence to the OECD DAC guidelines.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
DFID reports UK Official Development Assistance multilateral aid contributions to the OECD DAC (the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee) according to the DAC’s guidelines as part of Statistics on International Development, DFID’s annual National Statistics publication.
In addition, multilateral spend data is reported in DFID’s Annual Report (summarised in the main text, and in more detail in Annex B, tables B.1 and B.5).
In line with DFID programme rules, our investment in multilateral organisations is rigorously appraised before approval. Funding is clearly justified in relation to UK priorities, multilateral performance and value for money, and programmes are regularly assessed to ensure they are delivering and remain cost effective. Business cases and Annual Reviews are available on the UK’s Development Tracker website. The contribution of multilaterals to key development objectives is included on DFID’s Results Pages on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of her Department’s Official Development Assistance is delivered through local and national partners.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) data is collected and reported according to a standard international classification produced by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
According to this classification eleven percent of DFID’s bilateral ODA was channelled through UK or other donor country-based NGOs in 2017, the latest published year of ODA statistics.
Data that disaggregates other delivery partners - such as private sector institutions and research institutions - into local and national are not produced in the ODA statistics.