Select committee: International Development Committee
Recommendation 20
First Report - Racism in the aid sector
Published 23 Jun 2022
Paragraph 54
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 ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office should require organisations that it funds, which employ more than 50 staff, to publish their diversity data. This 32 Racism in the aid sector should not act as a barrier to small organisations in receiving funding. The FCDO should work with small organisations to identify ways to increase opportunities for staff from underrepresented groups.
From: International Development Committee, First Report - Racism in the aid sector (HC 150), paragraph 54, 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.