Written evidence submitted by One World
Action
"The brief note that we subsequently received
setting out DFID's general approach to middle-income countries
is no replacement for a properly articulated and publicly available
strategy. We believe that this is evidence of a lack of clarity
within the department on how to take forward its engagement with
middle-income countries. We recommend that DFID clarify and publish
its policy for engagement with middle-income countries as a matter
of urgency."
International Development Committee, DFID
Annual report 2008, Second Report of Session 2008-9 (page
35)
1. One World Action and our Latin American
and Asian partners from middle-income countries are concerned
with the classification of countries based on Gross National Income,
the subsequent 90:10 split in overall UK funding and the
impact this will have on some of the world's poorest women, men
and children.
2. The DFID annual report hardly makes reference
to middle-income countries and the programme resources allocation
chart clearly indicates the lack of priority to middle-income
countries. The new White paper Eliminating World Poverty: Building
Our Common Future has also failed to set out policy priorities
and development targets for middle-income countries.
3. We are alarmed that DFID has not responded
to the recommendations of the International Development Committee
to "publish their policy for engagement with middle-income
countries", nor have they responded to lobbying from civil
society demanding the same.
GENDER AND
GOVERNANCE CONCERNS
IN MIDDLE-INCOME
COUNTRIES
4. Poverty and injustice will never be tackled
until women have equal rights and this remains a serious concern
in middle-income countries. DFID's claim of being serious about
addressing women's issues and interests remains in doubt if the
women in middle-income countries are not going to benefit from
DFID's focus on educating girls, improving maternal health, fighting
HIV/AIDS, investing in women entrepreneurs, addressing violence
against women and girls, combating gendered aspects of conflict
and security and aspiring to address women's political representation
which are all targeted at putting women and girls at the heart
of development.
5. We welcome DFID's clear focus on women's
needs and interests and would like to point out that some of the
poorest and neediest women are in middle-income countries and
for DFID's policy to bear fruit, they would surely have to address
the issues faced by women in middle-income countries, especially
those commonly excluded from development agendas such as disabled
women (one in 10 of the world's poorest people are disabled
women).
6. Democratic inclusive governance is fundamental
to tackling the crises facing our financial and political systems
and this is true of middle-income counties too. Transparency,
accountability and responsiveness are essential to developing
democratic inclusive governments. Our research shows that when
these principles permeate civil society/private sector/state relations,
the likelihood of developing robust systems and institutions that
are accountable to people are increased. It is essential for DFID
to develop practical strategies to support good governance in
middle-income countries.
7. The backbone of democratic inclusive
governance is informed and active citizens and their organisations.
Active citizens and their organisations play a crucial role in
poverty reduction and in establishing and strengthening accountability
and building good governance. We urge DFID to broaden and strengthen
their engagement with civil society in middle-income countries,
especially with women's organisation.
8. We encourage DFID to draw on and strengthen
the wealth of best-practice in many Latin American countries where
civil society, and in particular women's organisations, have successfully
lobbied the state to develop interfaces where civil society can
directly input into, and in some cases challenge, national and
local governments on issues of good governance and civil and political
rights. Examples of these include the women"s commissions
of local municipalities in El Salvador which monitor and input
into public policies and services, and the setting up of the Procurator
for Disabled People's Rights in Nicaragua which takes forward
and resolves infringements of the rights of disabled people by
state organisations.
9. In the IDC's Second Report of Sessions
2008-09 on the DFID Annual Report 2008 (pg. 34), DFID
has committed to increasing its funding to UK civil society for
work with civil society in middle-income countries from £7
million to £13 million per year by 2010-11. These are
insignificant amounts especially as it is outweighed by the scale
of the problem. We urge DFID to institute a Country Governance
Analysis exercise in all middle-income countries to assess governance
needs, and then decide the levels of funding required for significant
impact in these countries.
FRAGILITY IN
MIDDLE-INCOME
COUNTRIES
10. We urge DFID to re-examine their classification
of fragility and fragile states. The recent political unrest in
Honduras has brought to the forefront the fact that many middle-income
countries remain on the margins of stability and lack a robust
democratic culture. Women are the first to be impacted by changing
contexts and we urge DFID to invest in middle-income countries
so as to PREVENT fragility and instability in the future.
11. The democratically elected leader of
Honduras, President Manuel Zelaya, was sent into exile following
a coup on 28 June 2009. Since then there has been a repressive
clampdown on the opposition, social movements and the women's
movements who are protesting against the coup. Roads have been
militarised to stop people from demonstrating and many leaders
of civil society are being persecuted and threatened. There have
been several arrests. Women, including members of one World Action's
partners, CEM-H, have been attacked while peacefully demonstrating,
and their offices have been under surveillance.
MDGS AND
MIDDLE-INCOME
COUNTRIES
12. A third of the world's people who survive
on less than $1 a day are living in middle-income countries.
According to DFID's expired middle-income strategy 2005-08, Latin
America which has the majority of middle-income countries is the
most unequal region in the world. Uneven stratification of social,
political and economic systems and structures will make it impossible
for the MDGs to be achieved in middle-income countries.
13. While we welcome DFID's emphasis on
aid to low-income countries, we would urge that the needs and
interests of the poorest and most excluded women, men and children
in middle-income countries need to be addressed if the MDGs are
to be met.
14. DFID previously had a middle-income
country strategy for the period 2005-08 explicitly for supporting
these countries to reach the MDGs. We urge DFID to do the same
again. The new strategy should be a compilation of country specific
strategies and targets which clearly spells out how DFID will
support gender and governance concerns, contribute to state building
and address the needs of the poorest women, children and men in
middle-income countries.
Submission from One World Action to the International
Development Committee on the Department for International Development's
White Paper 2009 "Eliminating World Poverty: Building
our Common Future"
1. We remind DFID of the progressive commitments
and policies outlined in the 2006 White Paper Making governance
work for the poor, which we hope will not be lost in the wake
of this White Paper. The 2006 document was clear in stating
that governance was about "people and their relationships,
one with another, more than it is about formal institutions—that
the biggest difference to the quality of governance is active
involvement by citizens". The 2009 White Paper, on the
other hand, focuses more on global systems and institutions, with
much less emphasis on tackling inequality, poverty and encouraging
the participation of citizens at grassroots levels. We urge DFID
therefore, to remember its commitments to the crucial governance
themes laid out in the 2006 White Paper.
POVERTY REDUCTION
IN AN
INTERDEPENDENT WORLD
2. We welcome the commitment in the White
Paper to working with civil society organisations to reach the
poorest and most marginalised citizens where states are neither
able nor effective. One World Action has seen first-hand how civil
society partners on the ground are well placed to promote inclusive
and participatory governance, to enable citizens to realise their
rights, to help to build institutions and to hold those institutions
to account. We are concerned, however, that the White Paper is
a missed opportunity to explicitly earmark support for those vital
areas of civil society that are historically underfunded, particularly
women's organisations and movements.
3. As DFID has recognised, social exclusion
keeps people in poverty and is a major cause of why people fall
back into poverty. The DFID 2005 policy document Reducing
poverty by tackling social exclusion was a welcome step forward
of thinking in this area. One World Action is therefore concerned
that the Poverty Reduction chapter of this White Paper does not
prominently feature the issue of social exclusion, nor does social
exclusion appear as a cross-cutting issue throughout the paper.
We hope that social exclusion will nevertheless remain a high
priority in country programmes and that DFID continues to seek
to strengthen the rights, voice and political representation of
excluded groups, such as Dalits, indigenous people and people
living with disabilities and HIV/AIDS.
PROMOTING ECONOMIC
RECOVERY AND
GREENER GROWTH
4. The neoliberal economic model has not
delivered sustainable growth for the most marginalised in our
societies. Evidence from around the world has illustrated that
this policy package and related lack of market regulation has
widened the rich-poor divide and deepened inequalities. We therefore
welcome the recognition in the White Paper that all too often,
growth has been damaging and has privileged the rich over the
poor. We are further pleased to see DFID support for opening up
new political space to debate economic reforms.
5. One World Action is concerned however,
that, despite the recognition that growth has too often been inequitable
and has not benefited the most vulnerable, it is still the main
focus of the UK's approach to poverty reduction. Similarly, the
White Paper lists promoting inclusive growth as only the forth
priority for transforming long-term growth, behind achieving growth
that lasts, behind moving towards more low-carbon growth and behind
building the capacity for increased regional growth. We firmly
believe that a new economic model should be more ambitious than
just focussing on increasing GDP and should prioritise social
justice and the redistribution of wealth and resources, ensuring
that inclusive growth is at the core, rather than the periphery,
of any recovery strategy. We also hope to see a more explicit
strategy, detailing how inclusive growth can become a reality.
6. We would, therefore, like to see DFID
go further in its exploration of alternatives to neoliberalism
and evaluate, adopt and strengthen both development and feminist
alternatives to the current economic model. Such alternatives
place women's rights and gender justice at the heart of both social
and economic development. They also recognise the need for gender-sensitive
and inclusive policies that address the needs and interests of,
as well as demands for justice from, women and other excluded
groups. Effort needs to be put into learning from examples in
both the South and the North to develop efficient tools and mechanisms
to address the current crisis and prevent future ones.
7. DFID's 2008-13 Aid for Trade strategy
"Sharing the Benefit of Trade", claims that Aid for
Trade "will contribute to increasing global prosperity and
inclusive growth, helping to achieve MDG 1, as well as accelerating
the achievement of several other MDGs". However, despite
its potential importance, Aid for Trade receives little attention
in this chapter and throughout the White Paper more generally.
We would like DFID to be more specific on how Aid for Trade will
address gender inequality in trade processes, on how women and
other vulnerable groups will participate in the formulation of
trade policy and to set out more clearly how Aid for Trade will
benefit women, the poor and the most marginalised.
8. We know that economic crises do not affect
all people evenly and so we welcome the White Paper's firm commitment
to social protection, particularly the $200 million UK contribution
to the Rapid Social Response Programme and the aim to support
50 million people through social assistance. We are also
pleased to see acknowledgement of the specific vulnerabilities
faced by women and young children in relation to food security
and encourage DFID to adopt a similar gendered analysis for other
social protection measures, utilising risk reduction for the poor
as a key indicator.
SUSTAINING OUR
COMMON FUTURE
9. We believe that having a wide spectrum
of society involved in decision-making processes is not only a
matter of justice and democracy, but can also lead to better decisions.
We therefore welcome DFID's commitment to learning more about
the gendered impact of climate change, especially the commitment
to involving women in decision-making processes on community preparedness
and responses to climate change.
BUILDING PEACEFUL
STATES AND
SOCIETIES
10. Of the 15 countries in which One
World Action works: two are officially listed by the World
Bank as fragile; eight have either emerged from conflict
or experienced destabilising coups within the last 20 years;
and of the remaining countries, five have recently experienced
border tensions and internally-destabilising factors, often resulting
from spill-over from neighbouring conflicts. One World Action
can, therefore, bring much experience to the table when working
in post-conflict countries and in contributing to stable and sustained
recovery.
11. Whilst we welcome the commitment to
supporting the most vulnerable States, we urge DFID to re-examine
their classification of fragility and fragile states. The recent
political unrest in Honduras has brought to the forefront the
fact that many middle-income countries remain on the margins of
stability and lack a robust democratic culture.
12. Many countries are making real progress
towards enduring peace and stability but need ongoing support
if they are to continue moving forward. If such countries fall
below the international radar or face uncertain support in the
future, there is a real danger of undoing the progress made so
far and restarting a cycle of fragility.
13. We believe that conflict is often rooted
in structural inequalities or power differentials and that peace
cannot be achieved or be sustainable if such inherent weaknesses
are not addressed. We welcome, therefore, DFID's firm commitment
to tackling the underlying roots of conflict and fragility, not
just its immediate consequences.
14. With 20 years of experience in
pioneering approaches in good governance and citizen empowerment,
One World Action has seen first-hand how democratic and inclusive
governance is the basis for durable stability. We firmly believe
that this approach must be the cornerstone of peace-building.
Our work with partners shows that transparency, accountability
and responsiveness are essential to developing democratic governments.
When these principles permeate civil society, the private sector
and state relations, the likelihood of developing robust systems
and institutions that are accountable to people is increased;
the capacity of citizens to demand and realise their rights is
strengthened; and the challenges of isolation and exclusion are
tackled head-on.
15. Building upon this, we further welcome
DFID's strong assertion that peace-building is inherently political
and must challenge the distribution of power and resources between
men and women and between different ethnic groups and social classes.
We are particularly pleased to see the recognition that structural
violence—or robbing people and communities of their potential—can
render peace fragile.
16. One World Action firmly believes that
women have been systematically alienated from political spaces
and processes. We are delighted, therefore, to welcome the support
demonstrated in the White Paper for women's political empowerment
projects, highlighted by the Nepalese case study.
17. Similarly, we support DFID's commitment
to inclusive political settlements as a cornerstone of peace-building.
We remind DFID that women still make up only 20% of decision-makers
worldwide and that true democracy cannot be achieved whilst such
a proportion of the population is excluded from the decision-making
process. We therefore urge DFID to ensure that the support in
the White Paper for women's political empowerment is followed
through with ear-marked funding and implementation mechanisms,
and to ensure that there is no gap between policy and practice
in this crucial area.
18. We welcome the rights-based approach
to peace-building, the centrality of civil rights and, crucially,
of social and economic rights. However, with the recognition that
peace-building is essentially a political endeavour, we would
see it as a progressive step if specific political rights were
detailed alongside the civil and social rights listed in paragraph
4.4. We are particularly keen that full and inclusive political
participation is clearly set out as a component of DFID's rights-framework.
We further welcome the White Paper's recognition that effective
aid demands strong respect for human rights and international
obligations. In CEDAW's 30th anniversary year we believe that
this is an opportunity for DFID to renew its international commitments
under CEDAW by giving special consideration to the Convention
in all international negotiations and partnerships.
19. The quote "It is now more dangerous
to be a woman than a soldier in DRC", reflects an unacceptable
reality. We therefore look forward to the detail of the implementation
measures that will see violence against women become a priority
in DFID programmes that address security and access to justice.
We also recommend that this commitment is long-term, reminding
DFID that it is often during the post conflict years—rather
than during conflict itself—than many women face a surge
in gender-based harassment and violence. We urge DFID to earmark
substantial resources to fight violence against women and to make
these resources easily accessible to women's organisations and
movements.
20. Whilst we welcome the emphasis on building
the capacity of fragile States, we believe that weak institutions
and poor governance are often a reflection of local level institutional
weakness. Further, national level conflict and instability can
often be indicative of tensions at local levels. We would like
to stress, therefore, that building capacity at local levels should
not be neglected.
KEEPING OUR
PROMISES IN
A DOWNTURN
21. In the midst of a global economic downturn,
we welcome DFID's continued commitment to dedicating at least
0.7% of national income to ODA by 2013. With this commitment to
increasing assistance, we urge DFID to develop monitoring systems
that ensure that the benefits are reaching the poorest and most
marginalised women and communities.
ACTING TOGETHER
THROUGH THE
INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM
22. We welcome DFID's push for a more focussed
and effective UN and the White Paper's commitment to the creation
of a single, powerful UN agency for women. In particular, we hope
that DFID will use its influence to push for an agency for women
that is headed by a newly-created Under Secretary General; that
it has a strong in-country presence and operational mandate; and
that it has the teeth to ensure gender analysis and mainstreaming
in all other UN departments and agencies. We strongly endorse
DFID's commitment to doubling its core funding to such an agency.
TRANSFORMING OUR
IMPACT AND
ENSURING VALUE
FOR MONEY
23. One World Action welcomes the commitment
in the White Paper to allocating an amount equivalent to 5% of
budget support funding to help build accountability. Development
aid is increasingly flowing into partner countries as direct and
sector budget support, which makes tracking the effectiveness
of this aid increasingly challenging. We recommend that this ring-fenced
5% is used as an opportunity to increase the capacity of governments
and CSOs to use gender responsive budgeting as a way of tracking
how development aid is spent, how much of this aid reaches the
most vulnerable sectors of society, and as a method of tracking
commitments to gender inequality. One World Action's Just Budgets
project has produced a practical tool with indicators as an enabler
to kick-start such processes. The document can be found at: (http://www.oneworldaction.org/papers_documents_archives/research/just_budgets.htm)
24. Civil society organisations are fundamental
partners in building development and budgetary accountability
and so One World Action welcomes the commitment to doubling central
support to civil society organisations to £300 million
per year by 2013. Whilst faith groups are singled-out to receive
more funding, we are concerned that the White Paper is a missed
opportunity to explicitly earmark support for other sections of
civil society that, not only bring a new approach, but are also
historically underfunded—particularly women's organisations
and movements.
25. One World Action's response to the White
Paper consultation urged DFID to seek to better promote governance
and accountability of the private sector and we were pleased to
see a commitment in the White Paper to "promote responsible
business through initiatives to increase transparency, accountability
and ethical practices". We look forward to the detail of
these initiatives to promote better accountability amongst DFID's
private sector partners and urge DFID to propose and implement
a specific governance framework for the private sector, ensuring
there is no gap between policy and practice in this area.
Annex 1
One World Action (OWA)
OWA was founded by Glenys Kinnock on December
21 1989 in memory of Bernt Carlsson, the former Swedish
UN Commissioner for Namibia who died in the Lockerbie aircraft
bombing in 1988 while travelling to the signing ceremony
of the Namibian independence agreement.
Today, although we are an organisation of just 15 full
time members of staff (well supported by a fantastic team of volunteers)
we work with 41 partners in 19 countries in Asia, Africa
and Latin America and have gained a sound reputation for our work
on governance, democracy and gender.
Our partners overseas include other non-governmental
organisations, community and co-operative movements, women's organisations
and trade unions. Though diverse in kind, they have a common commitment
to strengthening local institutions and giving people a say in
the decisions that shape their lives.
We believe poverty is about the lack of power,
so we work with the poorest, most marginalised people, to enable
and empower them to transform their own lives.
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