A couple of years ago, it seemed possible that the future of the Department for International Development as a freestanding Cabinet-level department of the British government might be in play.
No longer. DfID’s role as the “conscience” of government and a focal point of Her Majesty’s government’s commitment to sustainable development is widely supported, including by all the main political parties.
Instead, attention has begun to focus on a different question, namely what changes DfID needs — in a rapidly evolving development context — to its mandate, organizational structure, competences and accountability.
Read more on the #FutureofDfID:
● UK #GE2015: The moment of truth for DfID?
● DfID to increase trade role in future — Greening
● As long as there's extreme poverty, there's a need for DfID
● Labour MP: DfID has 'lost its way' under Cameron
● Debate on the future of aid ‘makes me worry’
● Time to recognize private sector role in UK aid
● DfID's importance 'shouldn’t be understated'
About the author
Simon Maxwell
Simon Maxwell is executive chair of the Climate and Development Knowledge Network. He spent 10 years overseas with U.N. Development Program and the United Kingdom aid program, in Kenya, India and Bolivia, and then 15 years at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex. He was director of the Overseas Development Institute. In addition to CDKN, he is chair of the European Think Tanks Group and specialist adviser to the International Development Select Committee in the U.K. Parliament. Simon Maxwell is a former president of the Development Studies Association of the U.K. and Ireland. In 2007, he was awarded a CBE for services to international development.
