The Department For International Development (DFID) is a United Kingdom government department, the function of which is "to promote sustainable development and eliminate world poverty".
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Current Ministers
- Secretary of State for International Development - The Rt Hon. Douglas Alexander, MP
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for trade policy - Gareth Thomas, MP (jointly with DBERR)
- Parliamentary Under Secretary of State - The Rt Hon. The Baroness Vadera
- Parliamentary Under Secretary of State - Shahid Malik, MP
Permanent Secretary
The current Permanent Secretary (since 2002) at DFID is Suma Chakrabarti.
History
Originally created as the Ministry of Overseas Development (ODM) during the Labour government of 1964-70, the agency lost its ministerial status following the Conservative victory in 1979. Its successor, the Overseas Development Administration (ODA), was under the supervision of the Foreign Secretary and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, at which time its primary remit was to promote UK exports to the developing world ("aid through trade"). During this period, it has been alleged that there was a connection between the granting of aid and the achievement of either foreign policy goals or British companies winning export orders. A scandal erupted concerning the UK funding of a hydroelectric dam on the Pergau River in Malaysia, near the Thai border. Building work began in 1991 with money from the UK foreign aid budget. Concurrently, the Malaysian government bought around £1 billion worth of arms from the UK. The suggested linkage of arms deals to aid became the subject of a UK government inquiry from March 1994. In November 1994, after an application for Judicial Review brought by the World Development Movement, the High Court held that the then Foreign Secretary, Douglas Hurd had acted ultra vires (outside of his power and therefore illegally) by allocating £234 million towards the funding of the dam, on the grounds that it was not of economic or humanitarian benefit to the Malaysian people. [1] In the 1980s part of the agency's operations were relocated to East Kilbride, with a view to creating jobs in an area subject to long-term industrial decline. In 1997 the administration of the UK's aid budget was removed from the Foreign Secretary's remit with the establishment of DfID under Clare Short.
Mission
The main piece of legislation governing DFID's work is the International Development Act, which came into force on 17 June 2002, replacing the Overseas Development and Co-operation Act (1980). The Act makes poverty reduction the focus of DFID's work, and effectively outlaws tied aid. [2] As well as responding to disasters and emergencies, DFID works to support the United Nations’ eight ‘Millennium Development Goals’, namely to:
- halve the number of people living in extreme poverty and hunger
- ensure that all children receive primary education
- promote sexual equality and give women a stronger voice
- reduce child death rates
- improve the health of mothers
- combat HIV & AIDS, malaria and other diseases
- make sure the environment is protected
- build a global partnership for those working in development.
- all with a 2015 deadline. The reality may well be that none of these goals will be achieved so long as the trade gap between Africa and richer countries continues to widen. Former Secretary of State Hilary Benn has indicated that on current trends, we will not achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 [3].
DFID Research
DFID is a major funder of development-focussed research, managed by its Central Research Department through a series of Research Programme Consortia (RPCs) [4]. Information on both DFID current research programmes and completed research can be found on the Research4Development (R4D) portal. The DFID Research Funding Framework [5] identifies four priorities, which take two-thirds of the funding. They are:
- Sustainable Agriculture [6]
- Killer Diseases (malaria, TB and HIV) [7]
- Climate Change [8]
- Where States Do Not Work For The Poor [9]
The remaining third of the spend is allocated under the following headings:
- Capacity Building [10]
- Education [11]
- Growth [12]
- Information and Communication [13]
- Infrastructure [14]
- Social and Political Change [15]
DFID also conducts research into trade [16]. This is mainly financed by International Trade Department. Central Research Department funds some trade research through the World Bank's Knowledge for Change Programme [17]. See also the DFID Imfundo Partnership for IT in Education.
