ActionAid has distanced itself from a warning made by its director of programmes that NGOs are reluctant to stand up to the Department for International Development (DfID), stressing that it welcomes the commitment to aid made by the new Secretary of State.
Yesterday Civil Society News reported strong remarks made by David Archer at a Global Justice Now event during the Labour conference fringe, where he suggested that some aid agencies have become so dependent on funding from DfID that they won't challenge its policies.
He reserved special criticism for the new Secretary of State for International Development, Priti Patel, whose policies he said represented a “very scary vision of aid…which is purely about British self-interest”.
Around 10 per cent of ActionAid's income came from DfID last year.
'Speaking in a personal capacity'
After Archer’s comments were published yesterday, ActionAid contacted Civil Society News to insist that he was not speaking on behalf of the charity. A spokesman said:
“David Archer’s comments were made in a personal capacity and do not represent the views of the organisation. He made this clear at the meeting and it is very important for us to make the separation.
“Our actual views were contained in a press statement we put out last week which made the following points.
“The generosity and commitment of Britain is transforming the lives of some of the poorest people in the world. UK aid helps us to support girls living in poverty to go to school, respond to humanitarian crises like the Nepal earthquakes and support women in Africa to claim their human rights and learn new skills.
“We welcome the Secretary of State’s commitment to tackling global poverty, the 0.7 per cent target and statement that ‘at its best, the global aid system does fantastic, life-saving work’. We also agree that charities and the government have a duty to ensure every aid penny is spent wisely and we will continue to do everything possible to make sure it goes to helping the people who need it most.
“The best way of achieving this is through supporting long-term change through education, fair reform of global tax and trade rules, resilience-building, and by supporting people to take control of their own lives that we can help communities to build their own futures, free from aid.”
The Civil Society News reporter who attended the event, which was titled ‘Time for a radical vision on aid: How can aid work for global justice?’, has said she did not hear Archer say at any point during the event that he was speaking in a personal capacity.
He was described as being from ActionAid on the event brochure and app.
£6.6m grant funding
In the year to December 2015, ActionAid received £6.6m in grant funding from DfID, around 10 per cent of its total income. The previous year it got £5.9m.
The charity’s latest report and accounts state that its general reserves have increased “due to uncertainty over the future of the DFID PPA [programme partnership agreement]”.
The report also highlights “the nature of any funding mechanism replacing DFID’s current PPA in 2017” as a “principal risk”. It says: “In mitigation to this risk we are continuing to keep open our communication channels with DfID, ensuring that we are regarded as high performers by DfID.”
