Select committee: International Development Committee
Conclusion 1
First Report - Racism in the aid sector
Published 23 Jun 2022
Paragraph 18
Addressed to Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
International Development Committee The philosophy and culture of aid All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
Across the global aid sector, racism manifests in decisions around whose expertise we value. Evidence to our inquiry suggested that institutions in high income countries like the UK assume they have the knowledge and best practice to assist people in low- and middle-income countries. Due to a belief that these institutions represent the ‘gold standard’, local partners are often required to adapt to their way of working. Racist attitudes also play out in the narrative that local organisations are ‘high risk’ and need ‘capacity building’.
From: International Development Committee, First Report - Racism in the aid sector (HC 150), paragraph 18, 23 June 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 23 January 2023 (deadline 23 August 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government says it takes racism in the aid sector seriously and is already working to address it, but it declines some recommendations, including a review of reserved department status and requiring funded organisations to publish diversity data.
- On local partners, it states that the FCDO "does not value international expertise over local expertise" and points to existing measures, including a 10% Social Value weighting in tender evaluations and a Due Diligence Hub.
- On reserved department status, it says "There is currently no plan to review" it, citing the threat to FCDO staff from state actors.
- On diversity data, it says requiring funded organisations to publish it "may not always be either appropriate or possible". It does not currently publish ethnicity pay gap data, and the Cabinet Office "is expected to issue guidance" in 2023.
- On terminology, it says it is "exploring taking part" in the sector debate led by Bond. On convening, it will "continue to look for opportunities" to support the sector on inclusion.