UK Department for International Development

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The Department for International Development (DFID) "is the part of the UK Government that manages Britain's aid to poor countries and works to get rid of extreme poverty.

"We are headed by a Cabinet minister, one of the senior ministers in the Government. This reflects how important the Government sees reducing poverty around the world. We have two headquarters (in London and East Kilbride, near Glasgow) and 64 offices overseas. We also have over 2500 staff, almost half of whom work abroad." [1]

"When the Department for International Development (DFID) was set up in 1997, it made fighting world poverty its top priority. This marked a turning point for Britain’s aid programme, which until then had mainly involved economic development.

"In its manifesto the government elected in May 1997 pledged to create a new department for international development headed by a cabinet minister. Previously the aid programme was managed by the Overseas Development Administration (ODA), a wing of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office." [2]

People

"DFID is represented in Cabinet by the Secretary of State for International Development (Douglas Alexander MP), and in the House of Commons by three Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State (Gareth Thomas MP), (Gillian Merron MP) and (Shahid Malik MP).

"The senior civil servant in DFID is the Permanent Secretary (Nemat (Minouche) Shafik), assisted on DFID's Management Board by three Directors-General and two Non-Executive Directors." [3]

Ministers

Accessed July 2010: [4]

Department of Technical Co-operation

Secretary (ranks as Minister of State):

Ministry of Overseas Development

Minister of Overseas Development:

[From 1964-67, the Minister sat in the Cabinet (Barbara Castle (1964-65); Anthony Greenwood (1965-66); Arthur Bottomley (1966-67).]

Overseas Development Administration

Minister for Overseas Development:

  • Rt Hon Richard Wood (Nov 1970-Mar 1974)

Ministry of Overseas Development

Minister of Overseas Development:

  • Rt Hon Judith Hart (March 1974-June 1975)

Minister for Overseas Development:

  • Rt Hon Reg Prentice (June 1975-Dec 1976); Frank Judd (Dec 1976-Feb 1977); Rt Hon Judith Hart (Feb 1977-May 1979)

Overseas Development Administration

Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Minister for Overseas Development:

Department for International Development

Secretary of State for International Development (Cabinet rank):

Minister of State for International Development:

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for International Development:

Contact

Web: http://www.dfid.gov.uk

Resources and articles

Related Sourcewatch articles

References

  1. About, Department for International Development, accessed June 16, 2008.
  2. History, UK Department for International Development, accessed July 19, 2010.
  3. Ministers, Department for International Development, accessed June 16, 2008.
  4. History Directors, Department for International Development, accessed July 19, 2010.