DFID: Labour's Baby, Tory's Child

Photography by DFID

When people think back to the thirteen year-long reign of the UK’s Labour Party, many would remember Tony Blair’s oratorical skills, John Prescott’s humour and Gordon Brown’s rise to power.

Others would remember them for raising the UK’s debt, Blair being the “poodle” of ex-president Bush and other not so memorable issues. Very few people would remember however, something that New Labour built—the Department for International Development (DFID—commonly pronounced as dif-fid).

During the Thatcher years, aid was the very least of the UK’s concerns. With the entry of New Labour in 1997, international development and aid was suddenly a huge priority for the left-centre government, so much that the small unit in the FCO became an official department with a Cabinet Minister—then Clare Short—in charge. This meant that UK aid would be properly debated and monitored by the UK parliament.

With its creation and under Clare Short’s leadership, UK aid was dramatically transformed. Instead of decades of old ideas of development, DFID launched a White Paper in 1997, directing the aim of UK aid towards reducing global poverty. This was solidified with the International Development Act in 2002, where all UK aid was united (ie. not attached to UK commercial deals or foreign policy)[^1]. Further White Papers included one in 2000 which focused on how developing countries could harness the effects of globalisation. The 2006 White Paper address the theme of governance while the latest in 2009 touched on emerging issues such as fragile states and climate change.

Beyond policy prescriptions, DFID’s field work has been hailed as one of the best bilateral donors in terms of field operations. They’ve moved away from the World Bank orthodoxy and addressed poverty through a multidimensional perspective. With the International Development Act, British aid was spent more wisely and targeted at the poor in developing countries. DFID aid has assisted over 2.5 million people with clean sanitation and continues to draw several million individuals out of poverty annually.

DFID however does have its weaknesses. Not all of its aid has been properly spent even if the aid recipient is not corrupt. While it has attempted to address poverty, its policies have continued to contain elements of neo-liberalism, starting with the issues in the 2000 White Paper. While praised as a leading bilateral donor, its management has still been highly bureaucratic.

Labour’s “monopoly” over DFID came to an end in May 2010 and the Conservatives now have control (there are no Lib Dem ministers involved in DFID). Andrew Mitchell, the present DFID Minister, has the aim to shake up DFID. There will be a greater focus on results-based aid, adopting a new approach to foreign aid. Aid to middle income countries might be cut, including China, Russia, and even India. DFID will also be more aligned with other departments such as the FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) and MOD (Ministry of Defense).

All’s well but such changes have been questioned. The poor are the poor irrespective of which country they are in. Drawing DFID into quasi-foreign policy would contravene the International Development Act. With less than five years to the Millennium Development Goals, NGOs, development practitioners, and others will watch how Mitchell and the Conservatives will direct this OECD praised donor in the drive towards fighting global poverty.

The author has no affiliation to any political party.

[^1]: While UK aid has been less conditional than US aid, aid always comes with some set of conditions. This includes issues around good governance, human rights, women’s rights etc etc

Posted on August 5, 2010

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about the author

Jiesheng Li is a doctoral candidate at the Department of Political Science and International Studies, University of Birmingham. He has completed his Masters in Development Studies from Cambridge and has a Joint Honours in Economics and Politics from the University of Birmingham and has undergone an internship at the Overseas Development Institute. He maintains a site on international development and international political economy (http://ipeanddevelopment.wordpress.com) but beyond such serious work, he can be found taking photos or listening to a variety of music.

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