The International Development Committee has launches a new inquiry into the inclusiveness of FCDO development strategy and delivery.
The inquiry will consider the adequacy and effectiveness of the FCDO’s disability and inclusion rights strategy, launched in February 2022, including the consequences for disability-inclusive programmes of the decision to cut aid spending from 0.7% to 0.5% of GNI.
The Committee last year obtained and published an FCDO equalities impact assessment that highlighted the likely impact of significant cuts to disability-inclusive aid programmes.
The Chair of the International Development Committee, Sarah Champion MP, said:
“Against a policy backdrop where the rights and needs of people with disabilities can too often be forgotten, the decision to cut aid spending from 0.7% to 0.5% of GNI has consequences. The equalities impact assessment obtained and published by the Committee last year gave us an idea of the likely impact of significant cuts on disability-inclusive aid programmes.
“The FCDO’s disability and inclusion rights strategy has been broadly welcomed, but there are concerns about FCDO’s commitment to education equality, particularly for disabled women and girls and disabled members of the LGBT+ community. And it’s not clear how the commitment to ‘mainstream’ disability inclusion will be implemented or monitored.”
“We would like to invite evidence from as broad a range of stakeholders as possible, including on how effective FCDO was in reaching and consulting them to develop its strategy and approach in the first place.”
