Oxfam’s response to the DFID 2006 White Paper: Eliminating poverty

The new DFID White Paper puts the state at the heart of development, recognising the need for capable, responsive and accountable governments in order for development to be successful. Oxfam warmly supports this position, along with DFID’s commitment to increase the amount of UK aid spent on supporting developing country governments to provide basic social services for their citizens. The commitment to provide more long term predictable financing using budget support, where possible, is also greatly welcomed. As is the recognition that health and education user fees must be abolished.

The DFID White Paper announces the introduction of a governance assessment system in order to determine where and how UK aid money is spent. However, the paper is not clear on what criteria will be used and how these will be applied in relation to specific countries – such as Uganda, where DFID’s development and conflict objectives pull it in different directions. Oxfam entirely agrees that DFID has a job to do in establishing a framework to examine such potential ‘trade-offs’ more systematically than it has done in the past, but would like to know more detail about what this means in practice, before making a judgement about it.