Evaluation of DFID global social exclusion stocktake

14 July 2010

Why do we care about social exclusion?

It will not be possible to reach the MDGs and eliminate poverty if we do not ensure that all poor people benefit from poverty reduction interventions. 

People may be excluded because they suffer discrimination by others because of their social identity: gender, ethnicity, race, religion, sexual orientation, caste, descent, age, disability, HIV status, migrant status or where they live (for example, ‘no-go’ areas, urban slums, remote regions). People who suffer discrimination on various fronts - for example, disabled women, girls from lower castes – are often the poorest. 

Background

DFID’s Evaluation Department commissioned a team of three independent consultants to report on progress (Sept 2009) of the implementation of the 2005 Social Exclusion Policy.  This evaluation report was completed prior to the UK 2010 election.

The evaluation team were asked to report on three areas:

• The progress made by DFID towards the commitments set out in the 2005 Policy Paper Reducing Poverty by Tackling Social Exclusion.
• Lessons on how to make the implementation of the Social Exclusion Policy more effective.
• Recommendations for any final evaluation of the policy.

Progress

• In promoting exchanges of best practice between national and regional organisations progress was scored ‘Amber to Red’ indicating there is evidence of some or very little progress.
• In analysing the impact of exclusion on poverty reduction on all country programmes progress is scored ‘Amber to Green’ which means there is evidence of minor progress and good progress.

Lessons

These included:

• A DFID Policy document- even if it is accompanied by full implementation architecture – may not drive activity without other incentives such as accountability frameworks, human and financial resources etc.
• The discourse of ‘social’ exclusion is a constraint - the broader term ‘exclusion’ seems to have more currency.

Recommendations

These included:

• Entry points within White Paper 4 (conflict, growth and trade) should be seized and acted upon. Emphasis should be placed on the fundamental role of exclusion within DFID priorities i.e. reaching the poorest and achieving the MDGs.
• There should be a focus on generating a shared discourse / priorities with OECD DAC and / or G20 partners. Key entry points include the forthcoming World Bank Social Development strategic review, the current UNDP Strategic Plan, the EU-DFID Institutional Strategy Paper, and the expertise of partners such as Brazil.

See the evaluation report, evaluation summary and evaluation annexes for the key findings and lessons learned.