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THE UNITED KINGDOM Development Assistance Committee (DAC) PEER REVIEW ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT 2 – DAC PEER REVIEW OF THE UNITED KINGDOM ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT The OECD is a unique forum where the governments of 30 democracies work together to address the economic, social and environmental challenges of globalisation. The OECD is also at the forefront of efforts to understand and to help governments respond to new developments and concerns, such as corporate governance, the information economy and the challenges of an ageing population. The Organisation provides a setting where governments can compare policy experiences, seek answers to common problems, identify good practice and work to co-ordinate domestic and international policies. The OECD member countries are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The Commission of the European Communities takes part in the work of the OECD. OECD Publishing disseminates widely the results of the Organisation's statistics gathering and research on economic, social and environmental issues, as well as the conventions, guidelines and standards agreed by its members. This work is published on the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Organisation or of the governments of its member countries. © OECD (2010) No reproduction, copy, transmission or translation of this publication may be made without written permission. Applications should be sent to OECD Publishing: [email protected] or by fax (+33-1) 45 24 13 91. Permission to photocopy a portion of this work should be addressed to the Centre Français d’exploitation du droit de Copie, 20 rue des Grands-Augustins, 75006 Paris, France ([email protected]). DAC PEER REVIEW OF THE UNITED KINGDOM © OECD 2010 DAC PEER REVIEW OF THE UNITED KINGDOM – 3 The Peer Review Process The DAC conducts periodic reviews of the individual development co-operation efforts of DAC members. The policies and programmes of each member are critically examined approximately once every four or five years. Five members are examined annually. The OECD’s Development Co-operation Directorate provides analytical support and is responsible for developing and maintaining the conceptual framework within which the Peer Reviews are undertaken. The Peer Review is prepared by a team, consisting of representatives of the Secretariat working with officials from two DAC members who are designated as “examiners”. The country under review provides a memorandum setting out the main developments in its policies and programmes. Then the Secretariat and the examiners visit the capital to interview officials, parliamentarians, as well as civil society and NGO representatives of the donor country to obtain a first-hand insight into current issues surrounding the development co-operation efforts of the member concerned. Field visits assess how members are implementing the major DAC policies, principles and concerns, and review operations in recipient countries, particularly with regard to poverty reduction, sustainability, gender equality and other aspects of participatory development, and local aid co-ordination. The Secretariat then prepares a draft report on the member’s development co-operation which is the basis for the DAC review meeting at the OECD. At this meeting senior officials from the member under review respond to questions formulated by the Secretariat in association with the examiners. This review contains the Main Findings and Recommendations of the Development Assistance Committee and the report of the Secretariat. It was prepared with examiners from Spain and Sweden for the Peer Review on 20 April 2010. In order to achieve its aims the OECD has set up a number of specialised committees. One of these is the Development Assistance Committee, whose members have agreed to secure an expansion of aggregate volume of resources made available to developing countries and to improve their effectiveness. To this end, members periodically review together both the amount and the nature of their contributions to aid programmes, bilateral and multilateral, and consult each other on all other relevant aspects of their development assistance policies. The members of the Development Assistance Committee are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Commission of the European Communities. DAC PEER REVIEW OF THE UNITED KINGDOM © OECD 2010 4 – DAC PEER REVIEW OF THE UNITED KINGDOM LIST OF ACRONYMS AAA Accra Agenda for Action AEAD Aid Effectiveness and Accountability Department (DFID) APPG All Party Parliamentary Group ARIES Activities Reporting Information E-System BIS Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (formerly Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) CDC CDC Group plc (formerly Commonwealth Development Corporation) CERF Central Emergency Response Fund CGD Centre for Global Development CHASE Conflict, Humanitarian and Security Department CPIA Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (World Bank) CPRC Country Planning Review Committee CSO Civil society organisation CSR Comprehensive Spending Review DAC Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development DBERR Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform DBS Direct budget support DCMS Department for Culture, Media and Sport DECC Department of Energy and Climate Change DEFRA Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs DFID Department for International Development DPA Development Partnership Arrangement DPAF Donor Performance Assessment Framework (Rwanda) DPF Divisional Performance Frameworks DRR Disaster Risk Reduction DSO Departmental Strategic Objective ECGD Export Credit Guarantee Department EDPRS Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (Rwanda) FCO Foreign and Commonwealth Office FY Financial year GEAP Gender Equality Action Plan DAC PEER REVIEW OF THE UNITED KINGDOM © OECD 2010 DAC PEER REVIEW OF THE UNITED KINGDOM – 5 GHD Good Humanitarian Donorship initiative GNI Gross national income HCS Home Civil Service HMG Her Majesty’s Government HMT Her Majesty’s Treasury IACDI Independent Advisory Committee on Development Effectiveness IATI International Aid Transparency Initiative ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross IDC International Development Committee IFI International financial institution IHP International Health Partnership IMF International Monetary Fund INCAF International Network on Conflict and Fragility LIC Low income country MDG Millennium Development Goal MIC Middle income country MOD Ministry of Defence MOPAN Multilateral Organisations Performance Assessment Network MTEF Medium Term Expenditure Framework NAO National Audit Office NGO Non-governmental organisation OCHA United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs ODA Official development assistance PAC Public Accounts Committee PFM Public financial management PPA Partnership Programme Agreement PRSP Poverty reduction strategy paper PSA Public Service Agreement TC Technical co-operation UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNFPA United Nations Population Fund UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund DAC PEER REVIEW OF THE UNITED KINGDOM © OECD 2010 6 – DAC PEER REVIEW OF THE UNITED KINGDOM UNRWA United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East WFP World Food Programme Signs used: GBP Pound Sterling EUR Euro USD United States Dollar ( ) Secretariat estimate in whole or part - (Nil) 0.0 Negligible .. Not available … Not available separately, but included in total n.a. Not applicable Slight discrepancies in totals are due to rounding. Exchange rates (GBP per USD): 2006 2007 2008 0.5434 0.4997 0.5527 DAC PEER REVIEW OF THE UNITED KINGDOM © OECD 2010 DAC PEER REVIEW OF THE UNITED KINGDOM – 7 United Kingdom’s aid at a glance DAC PEER REVIEW OF THE UNITED KINGDOM © OECD 2010 DAC PEER REVIEW OF THE UNITED KINGDOM – 9 Table of contents THE DAC’S MAIN FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .............................................. 13 SECRETARIAT REPORT............................................................................................................ 25 Chapter 1 Strategic Orientations An international development leader in times of global crisis ...................................................... 25 Solid foundations of the United Kingdom’s development co-operation ...................................... 26 A strong legal and institutional framework ............................................................................... 26 A strengthened whole-of-government approach ....................................................................... 27 The UK strategic framework: maintaining poverty reduction as the overarching objective ........ 28 A broader policy agenda ........................................................................................................... 28 The need to