Multilateral agencies

Multilateral organisations like UNICEF, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Bank are an essential part of the international system for development and humanitarian aid. They are a critically important complement to the programmes of bilateral (national government) donors such as the UK Department for International Development (DFID).

They have a global presence and the legitimacy to work in politically sensitive contexts. They provide specialist technical expertise and deliver aid on a large scale, leading and coordinating development and humanitarian assistance. They broker international agreements and monitor adherence to them. They develop and share knowledge about what works, and why. Some are at the cutting-edge of innovation, leading the development of new initiatives to deliver development and humanitarian assistance more effectively.

As a members and shareholders of multilateral organisations, the British government has rights and duties, including participation in governing bodies. This provides an opportunity for the UK government to influence the design and implementation of multilaterals' policies.

The Multilateral Aid Review

To ensure maximum value for money for UK aid it is imperative that money is put through those organisations that are most effective and which are going to deliver the best results for poor people. The purpose of the Multilateral Aid Review (MAR) was to take a hard look at the value for money that we get from putting our funding through 43 different multilateral organisations.

The review confirmed that the multilateral system is a critical complement to what the UK government can do alone. 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 room for improvement – particularly in the area of delivering results on the ground and cost control – and that agencies also need to work more effectively in partnership with each other.

This review provided us 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 also provided an exceptional opportunity to work with other countries to push for the reforms needed to make these agencies more effective.

We will update our assessment of all 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 at a country level, including in countries where DFID is not present.