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Working with Other Bilateral Donors

The UK is one of 23 members of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) at the OECD, which enables donors to share experience and develop best practice in aid management. During 2003 we have worked to support donors and partner governments as they put into practice guidelines on the harmonisation of donor procedures. This will significantly reduce the burden on partner countries caused by the wide range of procedures, such as audit and evaluation, which donors now apply to very similar tasks in delivering their assistance. With support from DFID and other agencies, the DAC has been developing means to measure progress in this work. A report will be published in December 2004, to which DFID will contribute.

DFID is also a member of other groups of donors, whose priorities in delivering aid are similar. The Nordic Plus Group of donors (Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, The Netherlands, Ireland and the UK) is working closely with the Zambian Government to share and improve aid management in the country. (See box below). In Rwanda, DFID’s country office is now providing assistance for education on behalf of SIDA, the Swedish Government’s development agency. This means that the Rwandan Government only has to deal with one donor, and SIDA can assist Rwanda without having to set up extra administrative structures there.

DFID also collaborates with other bilateral donors individually at headquarters level. For example we have started working more closely with our Japanese counterparts during 2003. In April 2003 we held our annual meeting for Heads of DFID Asia offices in Tokyo, and were joined by staff from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Japan International Co-operation Agency. This meeting further developed effective collaboration between the two countries, particularly in Vietnam and Bangladesh. Work has also continued with the USA, with whom we announced a new joint initiative on HIV and AIDS in November 2003, and France, with whom we have been exploring new ways to promote private sector involvement in the development of African infrastructure.

Useful links

• Issues briefs on preventing conflict and building peace.  Conflict, Peace and Development Co-operation (CPDC), Development Assistance Committee (DAC), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

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