Most UK aid from DFID goes to developing countries either directly or through an international body, whichever is judged to achieve the best results.
In 2009/10, 16% of DFID’s bilateral programme went directly to governments to spend on services like education, health, water and sanitation to lift their citizens out of poverty. This is known as General Budget Support.
Following the formation of the Coalition Government in 2010, we strengthened our criteria for providing aid directly to governments of developing countries. This strengthened approach means we only provide aid directly to governments once we are satisfied, based on robust assessments that: Firstly, they share our own commitment to these four partnership principles:
Secondly, that providing aid directly to the government represents the best way of delivering results and value for money compared to other options for spending aid.
In those countries that can meet these tough partnership tests, we can now make payments every three months - rather than twice a year - so that we can respond rapidly if major problems occur.
If something happens that suggests the commitments may have been broken by a government, we would review the situation and consider a range of responses - from discussions about potential future action, to non-aid sanctions (working closely with the FCO) right through to stopping aid altogether. In doing so, we will make sure that the citizens of the country are not punished effectively twice for poor leadership. This often means we look for alternative ways of achieving desired results.
Over the next four years we will reduce the amount given in General Budget Support by nearly half (or from 16% in 2009/10 to 9% in 2014/15).
In addition, we will also require governments to commit to improving their accountability to citizens. We will encourage governments to make accessible budget information available, and to allow citizens to participate (and hold their governments accountable) in how public funds are spent.
Once we are satisfied that the governments share these commitments, we may provide aid directly to them.
Partner governments, through their programmes, need to ensure that they achieve results and provide good value for money. We will work with them to ensure this by:
As a new commitment, each DFID country office which provides aid directly to government will spend up to 5% of the total on support to domestic accountability, with flexibility to respond to individual country circumstances. This could be done through support to local organisations such as service user groups to provide direct feedback on services such as education or health, or media to scrutinise government performance against commitments. Increasingly, new technologies such as mobile phones can be used to support this work and provide easier access to information about services and budgets to citizens so that they are better informed. Investing in accountability bodies such as parliaments, independent audit organisations or other watchdogs can also enhance public monitoring of government data, results and value for money. By increasing our support to domestic accountability, we aim to empower more citizens, including the poorest, to hold their governments to account and drive improvements in the quality and access to key services.
More than 40% of UK aid is channelled through international bodies. Between them they address all aspects of development. Activities include work on healthcare, peacekeeping, education and economic growth. The main recipients are:
UK aid is also provided to charities. These include international charities like Oxfam, VSO and Action Aid and charities based in developing countries.
In response to humanitarian crises, UK aid is provided to charities and international bodies or directly to countries affected.
But our work is more than aid. We also aim to influence other donor governments and organisations to work to reduce poverty.
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Kenyan health workers receiving training in Kisumu. Picture: DFID