LONDON, 29 June 2018: RESULTS UK welcomes the findings of the ICAI follow-up review of the 2016-17 reports, particularly around the UK Department for International Development’s (DFID) approach to transition of aid relationships as countries move from low to middle-income status. We are pleased to see some progress being made by DFID towards the delivery of these recommendations but call for more transparency and consultation with civil society around transition as a whole.

Transition is the process whereby countries move from low to middle-income status prompting a change in relationship with international donors. We are concerned that poorly coordinated and unsustainable approaches to transition could have extremely negative consequences for the world’s most vulnerable and marginalised people – many of whom reside in middle income countries.

RESULTS UK’s Head of Policy, Jennifer Williams, welcomes DFID’s appointment of a central point of responsibility for transition at Director General level:

“We are pleased to see this progress made after over a year of campaigning by RESULTS UK. We would now like to see the deputy director reach out to both UK and global civil society more around transition.”

“We also welcome the news that DFID is developing a set of ‘working principles for managing transition’. Moving forward, we would like to know more of the process regarding the development of these working principles and, crucially, whether civil society will be consulted in their development. We would also like to know when these principles will be completed, published and put into practice.”

RESULTS UK also welcomes DFID’s confirmation that it will be responsible for reporting on all UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) spending no matter what department it is spent by, and particularly that it will be reforming ODA reporting systems. This will be very important for improving cross-Government transparency and accountability.

Ms. Williams said:

“We still have concerns regarding the fact that DFID’s decisions to phase out bilateral and financial aid in a number of countries have caused a sharp reduction in funding for civil society organisations in the global south. This may jeopardize previous UK investments into creating strong civil societies and result in lack of transparency and accountability of national governments to their citizens. DFID’s upcoming Spending Review, which will look at how the department is spending its ODA, provides an opportunity to identify how civil society organisations can be best supported, both during and after transition, and we hope to see clear commitments coming out of this.”

RESULTS is a movement of passionate, committed, everyday people. Together we use our voices to influence political decisions that will bring an end to extreme poverty. We have been campaigning around the transition of aid relationships for the past two years.

If you have any questions please contact Tom Maguire, Communication Manager: Email: [email protected] Mobile: +44 (0) 7867562861 and Jennifer Williams, Head of Policy: Email: [email protected]; Mobile +44 (0) 7841128648.