§ Mr. WrayTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on co-operation with charities and donor agencies; what recent progress has been made; and what proposals she has for further co-operation. [80988]
§ Clare ShortMy Department enjoys close relations with both charities (NGOs) and the wider donor community. The production of our first White Paper in 1997 laid the foundations for unprecedented inclusion of NGOs in policy and strategy consultation. Development charities have been helpful in enabling my Department to produce policy papers on issues such as the rights of the disabled, inclusion of the elderly in the development process and access to clean water.
Consultation with NGO community lead to changes in the way my Department supported UK civil society. This included the replacement of our main funding channels for NGOs (the Joint Funding Scheme and block grants) by the Civil Society Challenge Fund (CSCF) and Partnership Programme Agreements (PPA). Under our CSCF we currently fund over 200 individual projects with around 80 UK civil society organisations at an annual cost in excess of £10 million.
We currently have PPAs with 15 major UK development NGOs and propose a further round of negotiations next year. PPAs are strategic level engagements, which provide a framework for constructive dialogue and sharing of ideas on major development issues.
My Department has regular engagement with other bilateral donors, where policies and views can be openly shared and regular DFID representation at the EC NGO co-financing meetings in Brussels where our interests as well as NGO's concerns can be raised and discussed.
We have began a series of discussions with our counterparts at the Community Fund and Comic Relief in order to exchange information and ideas and hope to strengthen these links further through joint evaluations of co-funded projects.
We are currently in the process of formalising a Strategic Funding Agreement with the main umbrella organisation representing the British NGOs working in development (BOND). This agreement further strengthens co-operation and mutual understanding between my Department and the NGO community.