CARE International UK welcomes the opportunity to respond to DFID’s new White Paper on International Development.

Private Sector Engagement is one of CARE International UK’s key priority areas. We are building on our previous experiences of engaging with the private sector, and both maximising the positive and minimising the negative impacts which the private sector has on poverty.

CARE welcomes DFID’s commitment to help maximise the private sector impact on the MDGs. We would welcome dialogue with DFID on implementation of their “Private Sector Development” strategy, and how policies within this strategy can be incorporated within the White Paper.

CARE International UK welcomes the DFID White Paper process and the opportunity to discuss the important issues raised. This submission responds to questions raised in Section 4 on fragile and conflict-affected countries of the Consultation Document, drawing on our policy-related research, programme quality and learning work on conflict and governane issues.

CARE International is committed to placing human rights at the heart of development. For this reason, we believe that mutual accountability can play an important role in aid delivery at both international and country levels.

All too often, poverty and vulnerability are rooted in social and political factors. For example, access to water or land is often a question not only of their availability, but also of the institutions and processes that determine the allocation of, and access to, such resources. To understand the underlying causes of poverty, we also need to reflect on how the aid system is organised. Mutual accountability offers a lens for understanding aid policy and practice in terms of the rights and responsibilities of different stakeholders, including donors, partner governments, civil society and – most importantly – the ultimate beneficiaries of assistance: those living in poverty and marginalisation.

This report brings together research conducted jointly by CARE International and ActionAid International in Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda in early 2006. It explores the implications for NGOs of the major changes in donor policies and aid delivery since the late 1990s from both a policy and funding perspective, with particular reference to DFID and the introduction of direct budget support. Key findings include: