Select committee: International Development Committee
Recommendation 17
Seventh Report - Progress on tackling the sexual exploitation and abuse of aid beneficiaries
Published 14 Jan 2021
Paragraph 68
Addressed to Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
International Development Committee Sexual exploitation and abuse in the aid sector: next steps All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
It is important that the international aid sector recognises the risks that the covid-19 pandemic and measures taken to contain it pose to women. Any reduction in aid supplies will make them more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse and should be avoided. This comes at the same time that safe spaces and confidential services for women are becoming more difficult to access. International aid organisations should work with local, community-based organisations in-country to continue to provide gender-based support and access to services throughout the covid-19 pandemic. This should be taken as an opportunity to consider how these services can be more locally led in future too.
From: International Development Committee, Seventh Report - Progress on tackling the sexual exploitation and abuse of aid beneficiaries (HC 605), paragraph 68, 14 January 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 6 April 2021.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government welcomes the Committee's report and states that, unless otherwise stated, it agrees with each of the 30 recommendations, partially agreeing with some and disagreeing with others.
- On the recommended full audit of whistleblowing practices, the government says it does "not agree", citing resource and time costs, and prefers assessing partners before funding and ongoing monitoring.
- On making aid work a regulated activity requiring Enhanced DBS checks, it disagrees with the recommendation "as written", but has set up a working group to explore the issues faced in checking criminal histories.
- On reporting NDA numbers, it partially agrees: it agrees NDAs must not be misused but does not think counting them is effective, and is "actively exploring" adding clearer language to funding templates and due diligence.
- On annual reporting, it "certainly intend[s]" to replicate DFID's safeguarding section in the FCDO's annual report, though the structure is "still to be finalised". On the UN trust fund for victims, it says it has "recently agreed to do this".