Academics call on UK government to 'reconsider' DFID–FCO merger

This is an ID@OU special bulletin in response to the UK Government's planned merger of the Department for International Development (DFID) into the Foreign Office (FCO).  

We at ID@OU add our voices to the many from different sectors and different ends of the political spectrum urging Government to think again.

Since it was created in 1997 DFID has, in the words of former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, 'lifted millions of people out of poverty, helped millions more children go to school, and saved millions of lives'. It has also earned respect and influence for the UK around the world.

A swift academic response to the merger announced on 16 June was co-ordinated by the Development Studies Association and published as a letter in the Independent newspaper. Dr Peter Robbins, Head of Development Policy and Practice at The Open University, is a signatory. He gave us the following statement:

The message from the COVID-19 pandemic is that everyone on this planet in intrinsically connected; we are all in this together. Those in the Global North and Global South need to work together to find ways to improve livelihoods and create a better and more sustainable world. The FCO/DFID merger will do serious damage to this agenda, and as such will ultimately harm the UK.

ID@OU    

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Comment and analysis

'The good of the UK will not be served by narrow conceptions of national self-interest'
The response of the Development Studies Association (DSA), published on their website and in the Independent newspaper, and signed by the OU's Dr Peter Robbins. Read more...

'We need a firm commitment to the globally recognised standards DFID has established'
The Institute of Development Studies (IDS) thinktank aims to point the FCO in the right direction for the future. Read more...

'The latest significant step in the UK's development agenda' 
In this information-packed blog, economists Professor Susan Newman (Open University) and Dr Sara Stevano (SOAS) make the argument that this move is the culmination of a trajectory. Read more...

'A victory for the hardline Brexit faction in the Conservative party'
Michael Jennings of SOAS gives his opinion in The Conversation. Read more...

Aid and international development sector urges Prime Minister to re-think
Nearly 200 UK aid and development agency leaders have signed a letter to Boris Johnson, co-ordinated by the UK international development organisations' network BOND. Read more...

'Derision, dismay and anger' 
BOND also provides a useful round-up of some of the most notable reactions to the announcement. Read more...

Image: Michael Haig/Department for International Development  (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)