Multilateral Aid Review

21 November 2011

The Multilateral Aid Review

The aim of the Multilateral Aid Review (MAR) which was published in March 2011 was to ensure that the UK gets maximum value for money for UK aid through its contributions to multilateral organisations.

DFID provides central funding to multilateral organisations to undertake a broad range of activities, such as leading the fight against HIV, malaria and TB, responding to natural disasters, providing large scale infrastructure, supporting children and women, and peacekeeping.

The MAR confirmed that the multilateral system is a critical complement to what the UK government can do alone.  Multilateral organisations are able to work in many more countries than the UK can reach on its own, and at a scale beyond any single country.

The best performing organisations were those that are highly focused on results, are accountable, well run and deliver critical improvements to poor people’s lives.

But the review also found there was much room for improvement – particularly in the area of delivering results on the ground, and cost control. The agencies also need to work more effectively in partnership with each other.

The UK will update the MAR in 2013 to assess the progress being made in these areas.

Updating the MAR to Monitor Progress

We will update our assessment of all of the multilaterals that DFID continues to fund, looking at areas which the MAR assessed as being priorities for reform. The assessments will be delivered in three batches between January and September 2013 with a report published in October 2013.

The update will again be built on the need to assess the value for money of multilateral organisations, in order to take funding decisions.

DFID is clear that what really matters is how the organisations deliver for the poor.  That is why the updates will place renewed emphasis on evidence of performance in country.  DFID country offices will be providing regular feedback and DFID teams will conduct visits to assess performance, including to countries where DFID is not present.

What the 2011 MAR Told Us

The MAR assessed the value for money for UK aid of 43 multilateral organisations. Each organisation was assessed against a set of criteria ranging from control of costs through to delivery of outcomes, from focus on poor countries to accountability and transparency.

The report includes summaries of the results of the assessments as well as the organisation by organisation results.

Nine organisations were found to offer very good value for money. Sixteen were found to offer good value for money, nine to offer adequate value for money, and nine to offer poor value for money for UK aid.

The assessment drew on a wide range of evidence including survey data, other studies of effectiveness, external evaluations, reporting by the multilateral organisations, visits by DFID staff to ten developing countries, consultation with developing country partners and submissions to the review from UK civil society and the multilateral organisations themselves.

Much needed evidence

The MAR has provided DFID with the evidence needed to take decisions about how best to deliver funding through the multilateral organisations in order to make the greatest possible impact on poverty.

It has also provided an exceptional opportunity to work with other countries to push for the reforms needed to make these agencies more effective.  DFID continues to work hard with others to do this.

How DFID is responding to the outcome of the MAR to press for reform, and to take future funding decisions, was set out in the paper entitled Taking Forward the Findings of the Multilateral Aid Review, also published in March 2011.