Everything about The Department For International Development totally explained
The
Department For International Development (DFID) is a
United Kingdom government department, the function of which is "
to promote sustainable development and eliminate world poverty".
Current Ministers
Permanent Secretary
The current
Permanent Secretary (since
2007) at DFID is
Sue Owen.
(External Link
)
History
Originally created as the Ministry of Overseas Development (ODM) during the Labour government of 1964-70, the agency lost its ministerial status following the Conservative victory in 1979. Its successor, the Overseas Development Administration (ODA), was under the supervision of the
Foreign Secretary and the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office, at which time its primary remit was to promote UK exports to the developing world ("aid through trade"). During this period, it has been alleged that there was a connection between the granting of aid and the achievement of either foreign policy goals or British companies winning export orders. A scandal erupted concerning the UK funding of a hydroelectric dam on the Pergau River in Malaysia, near the Thai border. Building work began in 1991 with money from the UK foreign aid budget. Concurrently, the Malaysian government bought around £1 billion worth of arms from the UK. The suggested linkage of arms deals to aid became the subject of a UK government inquiry from March 1994. In November 1994, after an application for
Judicial Review brought by the
World Development Movement, the
High Court held that the then
Foreign Secretary,
Douglas Hurd had acted
ultra vires (outside of his power and therefore illegally) by allocating £234 million towards the funding of the dam, on the grounds that it wasn't of economic or humanitarian benefit to the Malaysian people.
(External Link) In the 1980s part of the agency's operations were relocated to East Kilbride, with a view to creating jobs in an area subject to long-term industrial decline. In 1997 the administration of the UK's aid budget was removed from the Foreign Secretary's remit with the establishment of DfID under
Clare Short.
Mission
The main piece of legislation governing DFID's work is the
International Development Act, which came into force on 17 June 2002, replacing the Overseas Development and Co-operation Act (1980). The Act makes
poverty reduction the focus of DFID's work, and effectively outlaws
tied aid.
(External Link)
As well as responding to disasters and emergencies, DFID works to support the
United Nations’ eight ‘
Millennium Development Goals’, namely to:
halve the number of people living in extreme poverty and hunger
ensure that all children receive primary education
promote sexual equality and give women a stronger voice
reduce child death rates
improve the health of mothers
combat HIV & AIDS, malaria and other diseases
make sure the environment is protected
build a global partnership for those working in development.
- all with a 2015 deadline.
The reality may well be that none of these goals will be achieved so long as the trade gap between Africa and richer countries continues to widen. Former Secretary of State Hilary Benn has indicated that on current trends, we won't achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 (External Link).
DFID Research
DFID is a major funder of development-focussed research, managed by its Central Research Department through a series of Research Programme Consortia (RPCs) (External Link). Information on both DFID current research programmes and completed research can be found on the Research4Development (R4D) portal.
The DFID Research Funding Framework (External Link) identified four priorities, which took two-thirds of the funding. They are:
Sustainable Agriculture (External Link)
Killer Diseases (malaria, TB and HIV) (External Link)
Climate Change (External Link)
Where States Do Not Work For The Poor (External Link)
The remaining third of the spend was allocated under the following headings:
Capacity Building (External Link)
Education (External Link)
Growth (External Link)
Information and Communication (External Link)
Infrastructure (External Link)
Social and Political Change (External Link)
A global consultation process to determine what research DFID should be funding in the period 2008-2013, with an increased budget of around £1bn, and a focus on how to get research into use was launched at the end of June 2007 (External Link). The resulting new Research Strategy was published in April 2008 and identified six key research priorities for DFID (External Link):
Growth
Sustainable Agriculture
Climate Change
Health
Governance in Challenging Environments
Future Challenges and Opportunities
DFID also conducts research into trade (External Link). This is mainly financed by International Trade Department. Central Research Department funds some trade research through the World Bank's Knowledge for Change Programme (External Link).
See also the DFID Imfundo Partnership for IT in Education.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Department For International Development'.
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