Bond statement in response to DFID’s response to ICAI’s recommendations on partnerships with civil society

Responding to DFID’s response to ICAI’s recommendations on DFID’s partnerships with civil society organisations, Claire Godfrey, Head of Policy and Campaigns at Bond said:

“We welcome DFID’s response to ICAI’s review and would encourage DFID to be meaningful, inclusive and deliberative as they engage with civil society on the recommendations from the report. CSOs are powerful agents of change working to inform better policies and programmes to help tackle poverty, inequality and climate change. They play a critical role in strengthening democracy both here and abroad, by broadening the government’s engagement with diverse groups of society, including the most marginalised. We will be watching with interest to see the next steps, in particular, DFID’s commitment that they will work to safeguard civic space, that future funding rounds will be predictable and that they will explore longer-term funding arrangements. We welcome further engagement with DFID.”

ENDS
1. DFID response to the Independent Commission for Aid Impact on DFID’s partnerships with civil society organisations, 10 Apr 2019
2. ICAI’s report DFID’s partnerships with civil society organisations released in April scored the Department For International Development (DFID) an “AMBER/RED” rating for its working relationship with Civil Society stating that DFID’s unreliable and unpredictable behaviour absorbs a significant amount of management attention, to the detriment of programming and that weaknesses in process management, management of, and communication with CSOs have led to inefficient unreliable and unpredictable donor behaviour, regular and often lengthy delays, and unnecessary costs for, CSOs.
3. Bond’s report Ensuring civil society is heard: Principles and practices to improve government engagement with civil society recently warned that UK civil society organisations have witnessed a distinct decline in engagement by the UK government, leaving them excluded from decision-making processes and exposing government policies and programmes to avoidable errors.
4. Bond is the UK network for organisations working in international development, including Save the Children, Oxfam and Christian Aid. Bond unites and supports a diverse network of over 400 civil society organisations and allies to help eradicate global poverty, inequality and injustice.
5. For further information or interviews please contact Maryam Mohsin on 07555 336029 or [email protected]