Additional departmental actions

This section contains additional significant actions that will be taken forward but which are not considered to be major structural reforms for the purpose of the 2012 Business Plan.

1: Honour international commitments

Support actions to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

• Conduct a mid-term review of the Malaria Business Plan including progress against results - April 2013/December 2013

Create International Citizen Service (ICS) to give young volunteers the opportunity to help some of the world’s poorest people

• Publish annual data showing the number of ICS participants - started/March 2015

2: Drive transparency, value for money and open government

Build open societies and institutions in our partner countries

• Ensure all new budget support proposals include clear plans for implementation of up to 5% commitment on domestic accountability institutions - Started/March 2015 

Increase independent scrutiny by establishing the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) and by strengthening evaluation throughout DFID

• Implement all agreed actions from ICAI Reports (Progress against Action Plans assessed every March/June/September/December), and implement ICAI review - Started/March 2015

Introduce full transparency in aid and publish details of all new UK aid spending

• Publish (a) individual DFID administrative and project transactions over £500 incurred after 1st April 2011, and (b) new annual project reviews and project completion reports due from 1st April 2011 - Started/March 2015

Re-orientate DFID’s programmes to focus on results

• Implement the findings of the aid reviews - Started/March 2015
• Build more and better evaluations into DFID programmes, with rigorous impact evaluations for selected programmes - Started/March 2014

Support innovative and effective smaller British non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to deliver results

• Evaluate the impact of the first tranche of grants awarded under the Global Poverty Action Fund - March 2013/December 2013 

3: Boost wealth creation

Build support for open markets and wealth creation

• Work with other departments to deliver the policies and actions set out in the Trade White Paper, as monitored by the Trade and Investment Committee - Started/March 2015
• Ensure the Trade Advocacy Fund engages effectively on trade policy and negotiations with at least twenty Low Income Countries (LICs) or regional economic organisations - Started/March 2015
• Implement programmes to enhance trade finance for poor countries to improve global growth and poverty reduction - Started/March 2015
• Support delivery of existing and new DFID property rights programmes - Started/December 2013
• Resist protectionism in all its forms and work to secure a declining number of new protectionist measures in particular those affecting Least Developed Countries - Started/March 2015
• Work with the European Commission, WTO and others towards securing progress on trade liberalisation that promotes global growth and advances the interests of poor countries - Started/February 2015

4: Strengthen governance and security in fragile and conflict-affected countries and make UK humanitarian response more effective

Improve the quality of aid to Afghanistan and Pakistan

• Implement at least three evaluations of new programmes - Started/April 2013

5: Lead International action to improve the lives of girls and women

No additional departmental actions

6: Combat climate change

Establish an Advocacy Fund to help the very poorest developing countries take part in international climate change negotiations

• Monitor and evaluate the impact and value for money of the Advocacy Fund - Started/March 2013

Support developing countries’ climate adaptation and low-carbon growth

• Support the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) to enable developing countries to access the best climate change knowledge, research and data so that they can build resilience to climate change, adopt low-carbon growth and tackle poverty - Started/March 2015
• Support, together with other donors, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), including the demonstration of 3-4 innovative technologies in 10-15 countries- Started/June 2014
• Provide UK inputs to final EU report on Fast Start Funding - October 2012/October 2012 (completed on time)