Source · Select Committees · International Development Committee
Third Report - FCDO and disability-inclusive development
International Development Committee
HC 107
Published 4 April 2024
Recommendations
4
Accepted
Include UN Convention definition of disability in future delivery plan and Strategy updates.
Recommendation
The Department should include in future iterations of the delivery plan, and any update to the Disability Inclusion and Rights Strategy, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities definition of disability, to ensure that stakeholders are …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees and commits to explicitly referencing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities definition of disability in all future iterations of its strategy and delivery plan.
9
Accepted
Include specific, measurable disability data disaggregation policies in the DIRS delivery plan.
Recommendation
We recommend that the FCDO includes specific, measurable data disaggregation policies, guided by the UNCRPD definition of disability, in the upcoming iteration of the Disability Inclusion and Rights Strategy delivery plan, which it should then share with stakeholders and delivery …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees and is developing a new Inclusive Data Charter Action Plan (IDCAP) to meet commitments to disaggregate data by disability, sex, age, and geography in development programs. The current delivery plan already includes explicit references to disaggregated data.
12
Accepted
Para 60
Review FCDO value for money approach to safeguard people with disabilities in programmes.
Recommendation
The FCDO should review its approach to securing value for money in development programmes, to ensure that these considerations do not impact on the ability of programmes to effectively safeguard people with disabilities, reporting progress to the Committee within one …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees, stating that their value for money policy is consistent with safeguarding people with disabilities and already prioritizes equity. They intend to update and share the equity and value for money guide across their network and will provide a progress update by April 2025.
15
Accepted
Amend DIRS delivery plan to ensure consultation with Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs).
Recommendation
The next iteration of the DIRS delivery plan should be amended to ensure that Organisations of Persons with Disabilities are consulted on any policies that may affect them. (Paragraph 68) Humanitarian response and climate change
Government Response Summary
The government agrees that Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) should be actively involved in FCDO's disability inclusion work. They confirm the current strategy delivery plan includes actions for improving consultation with OPDs, and they will consider additional commitments in the upcoming delivery plan review.
Conclusions (3)
2
Conclusion
Accepted
Para 23
The Disability Inclusion and Rights Strategy provides an excellent framework for improving the disability-inclusivity of the FCDO’s development portfolio. However, major shortcomings have become apparent in the application of the strategy, which are set out in later chapters of this Report.
Government Response Summary
The FCDO committed to explicitly referencing the definition in any future iterations of the strategy and delivery plan.
5
Conclusion
Accepted
Para 36
Despite Government commitments, disability inclusion has not been sufficiently integrated into the FCDO’s policy-making procedures: the Disability Inclusion and Rights Strategy receives little to no mention across other departmental strategies, suggesting that disability inclusion is not at the forefront of departmental thinking.
Government Response Summary
The FCDO stated that its current value for money approach already prioritizes equity, including people with disabilities. It committed to updating its equity and value for money guide and sharing it across its network, with an additional update to be provided by April 2025.
14
Conclusion
Accepted
Para 67
The FCDO is not adequately fulfilling its commitment to the “Nothing about us without us” campaign for engagement with Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs), which risks undermining support and buy-in for its development programmes from people with disabilities and OPDs.
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the conclusion, stating it has published internal and external guidance for staff to engage more meaningfully with Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) and its current strategy delivery plan includes key actions to improve consultation and capacity building. They will also consider additional commitments in an upcoming review.