Written evidence submitted by One World
Action
One World Action would like to make the following
comments about DFID's Annual Report 2009-10:
CHAPTER 2: PROGRESS
TOWARDS THE
MDGS
1. One World Action welcomes the centrality
of achieving the MDGs to DFID's overall aims and objectives in
the Annual Report. However, whilst we recognise that the realisation
of the MDGs will vastly improve the lives of many people, we believe
that the MDGs themselves simply "mop up" the consequences
of poverty and do not adequately address underlying causes of
inequality.
2. Not only did the initial MDG framework contain
gaps that ignored the challenges faced by the most marginalised
people, we remain concerned that the international rush to treat
the symptoms of poverty, rather than its root cause, will leave
many of the world's most vulnerable people behind. We are further
concerned that, as international pressure to achieve the MDGs
mounts, there will be an increasing focus on quick-fixes and easy-to-reach
groups, which will squeeze out those individuals and groups of
people who face complex situations of poverty - including the
unprecedented rise in urban poverty - and multiple layers of exclusion
and who need more tailored policies and sustained investment if
they are also to be able to reach the MDG targets - disabled women,
Dalit women, women refugees, informal women workers and women
living with HIV/AIDS.
3. We therefore strongly welcome the Annual
Report's tacit recognition that an intersectional and inclusive
approach is needed to ensure that the most marginalised and vulnerable
people are not left behind as we progress towards achieving the
MDGs. Given, for example, that people living with disabilities
have been largely invisible in MDG processes, we are pleased to
see a recognition in the summary of MDG 1, that malnutrition contributes
to rising levels of disability in the global south. Given that
one third of the 72 million children still denied their right
to primary education in developing countries have a disability,
we are similarly pleased to see that DFID have supported non-formal
approaches to ensure more disabled children are included within
education systems.
4. As we move towards the final years of the
MDG timeline, we hope that DFID will deepen this socially inclusive
approach and do more to tackle the discrimination and inequality
that has steadily undermined progress on all MDGs. We similarly
hope that DFID will continue to take a global leadership role
in this area and work to deliver an MDG action plan that is clear,
time-bound and has robust monitoring and accountability mechanisms
5. In particular, we urge DFID to be bold and
recognise that the achievement of the MDGs needs to be an essentially
political endeavour and that it is structural inequalities that
keep people poor and are continuing to put MDGs beyond reach for
so many. In India, for example, whilst the general population
is making good progress towards MDG 7, deeply entrenched discrimination
is leaving Dalit populations far behind in having access to electricity,
drinking water and sanitation. The drive to reach the MDGs must
not push the very poorest people even further to the margins and
DFID's MDG strategies must be equitable and inclusive of all.
Meeting the MDGs will require targeted actions to reach those
who are the most discriminated against.
6. Further, One World Action firmly believes
that any serious attempt to reduce poverty, stimulate economic
development and meet the MDGs must have the political and economic
empowerment of women at its very core if it is to succeed.
We have been pleased to see DFID's commitment in its structural
reform plan to promote the economic empowerment of women and girls
through jobs and access to financial services. We urge DFID to
be equally ambitious in promoting women's political empowerment.
We remind DFID that women still make up only 20% of decision-makers
worldwide and that lasting and sustainable development cannot
be achieved if half of the world's population continues to be
systematically excluded from decision-making processes. It
is therefore disappointing to see a complete absence of information
in this chapter on DFID's contribution to the political empowerment
of women around the world, particularly as this is a key indicator
of MDG 3. We urge DFID to ensure the political empowerment of
women becomes an urgent development priority and a departmental
objective, is at the heart of the new Gender Equality Action Plan,
and is followed through with robust funding, implementation and
monitoring mechanisms, to ensure there is no gap between policy
and practice in this crucial area.
7. We also urge DFID to recognise the central
importance of gender equality to meeting MDG targets beyond MDG
3 and MDG 5. The Annual Report, for example, recognises that Sub-Saharan
Africa remains off track for achieving MDG 1, including the commitment
to halving the proportion of people who suffer from hunger. The
Report goes on to detail some of the practical measures taken
to tackle the problem, including the transfer of livestock, vegetable
and seeds to families. However, we urge DFID to consider
the political and structural challenges that also need to be tackled
if progress towards this target is to be accelerated, including
investing in women's equality. Whilst women make up 80 per cent
of the agricultural workforce in sub-Saharan Africa, millions
of people continue to go hungry because discrimination prevents
women from owning land and other productive assets. It is estimated
that agricultural production in Africa would increase by up to
20% if women's access to resources such as land, seed and fertilisers
were equal to men's.[182]
8. The Annual Report notes that the UN General
Assembly has agreed to establish a new UN gender entity. We have
welcomed the active role DFID has played in achieving this milestone;
we now urge DFID to continue to demonstrate leadership by pushing
for and committing to ambitious funding for UN Women to enable
the agency to have the clout and capacity to deliver real results.
The Annual Report pays considerable attention to the Multilateral
Contributions DFID has made to UNICEF over the past year - a UN
fund which also protects the interests of a specific vulnerable
sector of the population. By contrast, the report makes no mention
of financial commitments to UNIFEM, despite the fact that women
make up over 50% of the world's population and represent 70% of
the world's poor. Given the centrality of women's empowerment
to achieving all of the MDGs, and in order to reflect the UK Government's
high-priority commitment to gender equality worldwide, we hope
that the next Annual Report will give more detail on increased
contributions to the UN's gender equality architecture, with funding
and reporting at least comparable to UNICEF's commitments.
9. We applaud DFID for exceeding its obligations
under the HIPC Initiative and cancelling 100% of debt for qualifying
countries. We urge that this world-leading approach be continued,
even during times of austerity, reminding the government that,
even on a global scale, we are all in this together and that during
times of economic downturn it is the most vulnerable who bear
the brunt of hardship.
CHAPTER 3: PROGRESS
TOWARDS THE
MDGS IN
DFID'S PRIORITY
COUNTRIES
10. We welcome DFID's detailed analysis of the
progress towards the MDGs in priority countries. However, we urge
that DFID's documentation of progress towards the MDGs goes beyond
the current focus on off-track regions or countries to also address
the marked inequalities within countries, empowering vulnerable
groups of people, not merely vulnerable nations.
11. Whilst we appreciate that DFID must have
priority focuses, we also urge the department to exercise caution
when considering future donor relationships with countries. In
particular, we urge DFID to ensure that Middle Income Countries
(MICs) and States not currently considered to be "fragile"
do not fall off the development radar. The recent political unrest
in Honduras reminds us that whilst many States are not officially
classed as "fragile" or "low-income", they
remain nonetheless on the very margins of stability. Many countries
worldwide are making real progress in terms of development, but
need to know that they can rely on support if they are to continue
moving forward. Further, many of the world's largest equality
gaps and the poorest and most excluded people can be found in
"non-fragile" and MIC countries. These people must also
not be forgotten and left behind as we work towards achieving
the MDGs.
CHAPTER 4: MAKING
BILATERAL AID
MORE EFFECTIVE
12. We welcome the global lead DFID has taken
in promoting transparency and accountability via the searchable
project database and the International Aid Transparency Initiative.
We now urge DFID to continue to make improvements in the monitoring
and use of aid and seize this opportunity to promote gender-responsive
budgeting as a further way of tracking how ODA is spent, how much
reaches the most vulnerable sectors of society, particularly women,
and as a method of tracking commitments to and investments in
gender equality. One World Action's Just Budgets project has produced
a practical tool with indicators as an enabler to kick-start such
processes, which we would be happy to share.
13. We welcome the delivery of the DFID toolkit
of suggested indicators covering a range of sectors as a step
towards improving the monitoring of aid. We now urge DFID to go
even further and push for more innovative and disaggregated indicators,
which should be established at all levels - organisational, in-country
and project - to monitor progress for specifically excluded populations
(e.g. women, disabled people, Dalit women, indigenous women, people
living with HIV/AIDS, migrants) in each sector. This will help
to identify those who are slipping through the gaps in ODA and
allow resources to be designed and channelled more appropriately.
14. One World Action's response to DFID's White
Paper highlighted our concern that the economic crises would not
impact evenly and that it will often be the most vulnerable who
bear the brunt of economic hardship. We therefore welcome the
flexible approach that DFID has taken to PRBS in countries that
are using the framework effectively, delivering increased disbursements
to help cushion the impact of the financial crisis, to help mitigate
against external shocks and to help cope with the impact of exchange
rate shifts.
CHAPTER 5: MAKING
MULTILATERAL AID
MORE EFFECTIVE
15. One World Action welcomes DFID's continued
and substantial commitment to delivering aid through the EU. As
the world's biggest bilateral donor, partnership with the EU allows
UK ODA to reach individuals in countries where DFID programming
is absent in an efficient and cost-effective way. The EU's strong
monitoring and accountability mechanisms are also a welcome tool
for ensuring that this ODA is highly focussed on poverty-reduction
and delivers a high-level of policy coherence in the area of international
poverty reduction across Europe.
16. We welcome DFID's renewed commitment to
the Partnership Programme Arrangements, and want to especially
remind DFID of the PPA's vital role in supporting smaller and
medium-sized organisations. Particularly for CSOs working for
women's equality - which have been historically marginalised and
underfunded - the PPA is an opportunity to build a crucial and
strategic partnership with DFID. This also has advantages for
DFID - these smaller NGOs come with specific areas of expertise
and often strong links to southern partners who are pioneering
innovative projects and driving forward change at the grassroots
level. This contributes to better learning through the sharing
of experience, more tailored policy solutions to particular challenges
and enhanced capacity to monitor DFID's work and approach in key
areas, which in turn plays a vital role in increasing openness
and transparency. Smaller and medium-sized NGOs with specific
expertise also have a crucial role to play in providing support
and capacity building in the drive to meet the most off-track
MDGs, including the attainment of the MDGs for women, and rely
on strategic partnerships with DFID to fulfil this role.
182 Africa Partnerships
Forum, 207, Gender and Economic Empowerment in Africa, 8th
Meeting of the Africa Partnerships Forum, Berlin, Germany, 22-23
May 2007
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