Select committee: International Development Committee
Conclusion 37
First Report - Racism in the aid sector
Published 23 Jun 2022
Paragraph 97
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)
It should use its position to facilitate sector-wide conversations about how aid actors can improve diversity, equity and inclusion and being anti-racist. The FCDO still has work to do internally and will not have all the answers, but it can create the forum for these conversations and provide the funding to develop best practice guidelines for its partners. The FCDO can also put stipulations on organisations that it funds to publish their diversity data and demonstrate the work they are undertaking to build truly inclusive workplaces.
From: International Development Committee, First Report - Racism in the aid sector (HC 150), paragraph 97, 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.