Corporate report

FCDO response to the ICAI recommendations on the UK’s approach to democracy and human rights

Published 28 February 2023

Introduction

The UK Government welcomes the ICAI review of the UK’s approach to democracy and human rights between 2015 and 2021 and its Green/Amber assessment.

We are glad that ICAI recognises the positive contribution UK aid programmes have made to tackle threats to democracy and human rights and note that ICAI highlights in particular the FCDO’s work helping at-risk groups, such as women and people with disabilities, to advocate for their rights, combat discrimination, participate in politics and access basic services; as well as work helping to create more effective civil society organisations. We are also pleased to see that the UK’s focus on inclusion is singled out as a strength.

The UK is a leading advocate for the defence and promotion of democracy and human rights around the world. The Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy of 2021 set out the ways in which freedom, openness and human rights are central to the UK’s foreign, development and security policy. In recent speeches, the Foreign Secretary has also reiterated the FCDO’s ambition to stand up for human rights, build democratic resilience, promote civic space, and nurture the institutions of free and open societies.

Whether at the UN, in our G7 Presidency in 2021 or bilaterally, the UK has demonstrated global leadership on human rights and open societies. In recent years, we have spearheaded global initiatives on:

• preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI): PSVI has been a flagship FCDO campaign since its launch in 2012, including with the Global Summit in 2014 and PSVI Conference in 2022
• freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB): in 2022, the UK hosted an international Ministerial conference, driving international efforts on FoRB and demonstrating our leading role in supporting freedom and openness
• media Freedom: the UK is a founding member of the Media Freedom Coalition, a global initiative set up in 2019 to advocate for the safety of journalists and media workers
• sanctions: the UK established a ‘Global Human Rights’ (GHR) sanctions regime in 2020. This provides a powerful tool to deter and provide accountability for serious violations or abuses of such rights around the world. Since its inception, the Government has used the powers provided by the GHR sanctions regulations to impose sanctions on over 90 individuals and entities
• girls’ education: in 2020, the UK co-hosted the Global Education Summit with Kenya, which raised a record US$4 billion for the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). We have also used our co-leadership of the Global Action Coalition on gender-based violence to push back against the rollback of rights and championed the importance of gender in the fight against climate change at COP26

The FCDO has also led UK efforts in supporting and engaging with the US Summit for Democracy, including through a comprehensive set of commitments to support democracy and human rights, both at home and overseas.

We are proud of this work, and look forward to continuing to work with ICAI, civil society organisations and international partners to draw on lessons learned and build on our track record. This response seeks to address ICAI’s recommendations in the order in which they appear in the ‘Conclusions and Recommendations’ section of the report.

Recommendation 1

‘FCDO should set out publicly its approach to democracy and human rights’.

Response: accept

The Integrated Review provides overall strategic direction for the UK’s international policy. It recognises the value of defending universal human rights and promoting robust democratic institutions and the rule of law to reverse the decline in global freedom and achieve progress. It sets out a vision for a world in which open societies and economies can flourish, and state control is limited. The review also commits the UK to increasing its efforts to protect open societies and democratic values where they are being undermined.

The International Development Strategy, published in 2022, reinforces this approach. It commits the UK to being a patient, reliable and enduring partner that champions openness, predictability, and the rule of law.

Work is also now underway to develop an FCDO strategy on Open Societies, Democracy and Human Rights. The strategy will set out the UK’s approach to the growing threats to open societies, democracy, and human rights around the world, and we will set this approach out publicly once the strategy has been finalised and agreed by Ministers.

Recommendation 2

‘FCDO should ensure it retains sufficient expertise, in particular in governance, to design and monitor its democracy and human rights interventions’.

Response: accept

The FCDO agrees that expertise is important for the effective delivery of development and foreign policy, and that the retention of governance, social development, legal and other expertise will continue to be important in the design and monitoring of democracy and human rights interventions and policy.

Since the merger of the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2020, the FCDO has re-shaped its capabilities to retain the UK’s thought leadership skills, reduce fragmentation, and improve coordination of knowledge production and sharing.

The FCDO’s Executive Committee has agreed a number of actions to ensure that expertise is managed and utilised more effectively. They have agreed that experts should be an integral part of the FCDO’s policy and decision-making process, and that the right systems and processes should be in place to ensure they are. The FCDO is now carrying out a series of capability reviews as part of a strategic expertise and workforce exercise. Reviews on our conflict and development capability are also underway to inform workforce decisions. In addition, the FCDO will pilot options for improving the operating model for experts in the Department, including strengthening the agility of experts to support both crises and new and emerging priorities.

The FCDO has 13 specialist professional cadres, including for Governance, Social Development and Conflict Advisers. Accreditation rounds are currently underway for each of the Governance, Social Development and Conflict cadres, in order to grow FCDO capability internally, including by drawing in expertise from across both the FCDO itself and the wider Government network. Professional Development Conferences on governance, conflict and social development are planned for 2023. These will support policy and programme experts from across the globe to strengthen professional learning and development in technical areas.

In addition, proposals have been approved by the FCDO’s Executive Committee to help to ensure that the FCDO has the right development capability to deliver against the International Development Strategy (IDS) and its wider goals. This work on expertise and development capability supports Ministers’ ambitions to reinvigorate the UK as a global development leader.

Recommendation 3

‘FCDO should introduce a leaner process to design and approve smaller programmes, while ensuring that due diligence is sufficient to allow approval for longer than one year’.

Response: accept

We agree that excellent programme delivery is an important part of the FCDO fulfilling the Government’s objectives, including on democracy and human rights, and the FCDO is committed to maintaining high standards of programme delivery and risk management in a wide range of difficult operating environments. The FCDO also agrees that the UK’s response to governance and human rights challenges should include programmes that are flexible and designed to respond to and influence the local context.

The FCDO Programme Operating Framework (PrOF), introduced in 2021, represents a merged framework for policy programmes, building on the success of, and lessons learned from, programme delivery approaches used in the FCO and DFID prior to the merger. One of the 10 principles in the PrOF is proportionality, and the PrOF will be reviewed at regular intervals to ensure that its requirements are proportionate for different types of projects and programmes.

In line with the PrOF, all programmes and projects are approved at an appropriate level of delegated authority (agreed with Ministers), with processes proportionate to the scale of investment and level of risk. The roll out of new IT systems currently underway, and the periodic review of the PrOF rules, will allow distinctions to be made between different types of programmes, including smaller programmes and projects. Over the next 18 months, the FCDO will agree and roll out an approach that further supports the principle of proportionality by enabling a proportionate governance model for smaller programme and projects, while maintaining standards of delivery and risk management.

Separately, work is underway to facilitate more agile and responsive programming. This will enable FDCO programmes to respond more effectively to changing operating contexts, piloting new approaches and then scaling up where appropriate.

Recommendation 4

‘FCDO should consider whether it can learn from other countries and take more risks to support individuals and organisations facing the most serious threats from repression’.

Response: partially accept

The FCDO agrees that it should constantly learn, and we will always consider if there is more we can do to support individuals and organisations facing serious threats from repression. However, it is also important for the FCDO to think and work politically to ensure it does not expose people to greater risks, and this is part of its responsibility to “do no harm”. A holistic approach to addressing the drivers of repression and of restrictions to civic space and democratic freedoms can have greater impact, and FCDO staff regularly meet with like-minded partners to coordinate our responses. In some contexts, it can be more effective for us to influence behind the scenes, while others lead on public signalling.

Internationally, we also participate in information sharing and learning. This includes work via the Summit for Democracy Civic Space Cohort and the OECD DAC Community of Practice on Civil Society, where we were involved in the drafting of the Recommendation on Enabling Civil Society in Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Assistance.

Since the review period, the FCDO has developed a civic space diagnostic toolkit, which now guides our network of Posts in understanding, diagnosing and acting on issues of civic space. Ministers have also approved an internal civic space policy paper to guide FCDO engagement and programming.

The FCDO is committed to supporting vulnerable individuals and organisations. We are in the process of updating our public guidance on human rights defenders. We will also explore new funding modalities to build on the legacy of UK Aid Match, UK Aid Direct and UK Aid Connect.

Recommendation 5

‘FCDO should ensure all its central democracy and human rights programmes work closely with FCDO’s overseas network where democracy and human rights have been prioritised, in particular with better coordination with the Westminster Foundation for Democracy’.

Response: accept

The FCDO agrees that its central democracy and human rights programmes should continue to work closely with the FCDO’s overseas network. Integration and coordination across the portfolio are important to harness opportunities to tackle the threats to democracy and human rights and ensure value for money.

Since the ICAI review period, the FCDO has undertaken work to deepen integration between its central programmes and the portfolios of country Posts. Central teams are working to strengthen coherence, focus central engagement, and complement country priorities. Business and country planning processes and the development of the Open Societies, Democracy and Human Rights Strategy will further support this.

Steps have also been taken to strengthen the alignment between central funding to the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) and the portfolios of country Posts. There is new central guidance for the FCDO network on working with Arm’s Length Bodies, of which WFD is one. A strategic workshop with WFD and its FCDO sponsor team at the beginning of this year has also deepened coordination, supported by a new “Ways of Working” agreement outlining how the FCDO and WFD will ensure closer integration with the FCDO network.

The FCDO intends to set up a new Centre of Expertise on Democratic Governance with the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD). This new centrally manged programme is being specifically designed to respond to country level priorities. It will do this through the provision of specialist guidance and technical assistance on democracy and democratic governance for country offices, and in doing so will deepen the relationship between the UK’s embassies and high commissions and WFD.