Synopsis: |
The Department for International Development (DFID) has more than doubled its bilateral expenditure in insecure environments in the last five years, to more than GBP 1 billion a year, and plans further increases. Insecure environments include nine very insecure countries such as Afghanistan and Sudan, and 10 others, such as Uganda and Pakistan, where parts of the country are insecure. Conditions in insecure environments are much more difficult than those in the more secure countries where DFID has most experience of working, and pose extra risks to its staff and to the securing of value for money. DFID's successful projects have improved the lives of poor people in a range of insecure environments, including humanitarian projects to address urgent life-saving needs and longer term development projects such as building provision in education or infrastructure. DFID development expenditure over the last five years has not been as successful in the most insecure countries as it has been elsewhere: in 2007, only half of projects in insecure countries met all or most of its objectives, compared with three-quarters elsewhere.DFID projects to improve governance in insecure countries, for example, have been around 26 per cent less successful than their equivalents in secure countries. Working in insecure environments results in extra costs, especially in providing staff and consultants with adequate security. DFID lacks adequate information on these extra costs. Understanding likely project performance, staffing implications and extra security costs are important in ensuring maximum value for money from expenditure. |