Minutes of BOND Latin America Group / DFID Meeting
Minutes of BOND Latin America Group / DFID Meeting
6 November 2006
Following introductions, the following items were added to the agenda: EU-Central America Free Trade Agreement and coordination with Information and Civil Society Department, (ICSD). At the outset, the BOND group confirmed that they cover the Caribbean as well as Latin America.
Update on Regional Assistance Plans, (RAPs)
Evaluations of both the Latin America and Caribbean RAPs are underway. The Caribbean evaluation is being carried out by DFID’s Evaluation Department whereas the Latin America evaluation will be carried out by members of the Latin America Team (LAT) with Overseas Development Institute (ODI) colleagues. The questions to be answered include what does/ does not work in working with the regional banks.
The problem with evaluating the Latin America RAP is that the Trust Funds are just one year old so they are still bedding down and the Trade programme is just starting.
The aim is to complete the evaluations by mid-January and submit an outline of both new plans to DFID Ministers by late February. DFID will be in touch with NGO partners around February time for feedback.
There will not be any radical changes to the RAP as the programme is not long underway. The focus should be evaluating what Latin America and Caribbean Department (LACD) is doing, not the direction it is taking. It will be tweaked and updated to reflect the priorities set out in White Paper 3.
Latin America Markets and International Trade Programme
Tenders have been invited for the trade programme. Consultants are expected to start work in the New Year. There will be up to two years implementation time to identify: identify gaps, stakeholders and countries. A virtual Steering Committee will be set up in the New Year to review progress. The team will comprise DFID staff, a consultant and possibly a NGO.
White Paper 3
White Paper 3 focusses very much on multilaterals, governance as well as climate change and Brazil’s role as a BRICS country.
It is not yet clear what the division of labour will be on climate change within HMG. The Foreign Office is showing a great deal of interest in this issue. DFID Brazil and DEFRA are each recruiting a Climate Change Adviser.
Emerging Donors
As of January the Europe and Middle East Asia Division will incorporate Central, East and South East to become Europe, Middle East, Americas, and Asia Division. A new post has been created in the division to lead on BRICS policy which LACD is keen to feed into.
LACD should commission a study on what the BRICS agenda will mean for DFID and this will have to be reflected in the next RAP for Latin America.
Staffing
DFID Andes office - Head of Office will return from maternity leave in February.
DFID Brazil – a Pro Poor Growth Adviser post has been created. A programme officer who focusses on NGOs will be replaced in the New Year.
LAT Regional Unit - the Deputy Head of DFID Central America will move to East Kilbride HQ to work on Latin America and Caribbean issues. The LAT Regional Unit will lose the post of Head of LAT.
It is not yet clear if LACD will face further staff constraints so we cannot yet say whether our focus on smaller Middle Income Countries will decline.
As in DFID, many of the NGOs have had internal discussions about continuing to work in Latin America and some are working increasingly on regional issues.
ICSD
ICSD has a central role in working with NGOs. The department looks after the funding relationship as a whole, consulting DFID teams widely. As a geographical department, LACD has a closer relationship with ICSD than other teams. As a geographical department, we need to know what is happening at a grassroots level.
DFID / PPA-NGO meeting, Lima
Our 6 PPA-NGO partners participated in the Lima meeting on 16-17 October. Unfortunately the Andes office did not have the capacity to invite other delegates.
The aims of the meeting were to update and exchange information on the DFID Andes’ office and our PPA-NGO partners’ work, and to identify key areas for collaboration.
The meeting was very productive. It was a good opportunity for our NGO partners to meet each other and it became apparent how differently they work. A creative approach is needed for the NGOs to work together, going forward. This is especially true the more they move towards a regional approach.
The PPA-NGOs raised their concerns about: having a facilitator for the EU/ Trade negotiations; Colombia (particularly human rights); and how DFID Andes will respond to the climate change issue.
The World Bank and IDB joined the meeting to share their perspective on joint-working. Peru, the IFIs’ budgets, human rights and the environmental impacts on the World Bank’s infrastructure were discussed.
DFID Brazil and DFID Central America had meetings with a similar agenda in earlier this year.
EU-Central America Free Trade Agreement, (CAFTA)
CAWN’s main concerns are the impact assessments, timing and engagement with civil society.
With reduced staff numbers and the needs to prioritise, LACD try not to engage on EU matters. However the team is mindful of the significance of EU issues and want to get the DOHA processes going again. DTI lead on this but are dependent on LACD to provide the poverty angle with NGO engagement. Credible and effective analysis on impacts needs to be fed into the process to encourage evidence-based dialogue.
The future of the Trade Team within the EMAD Division is uncertain but could have been a vehicle to take forward the work with Sussex University on the toolkit.
For the Caribbean, the immediate and urgent issue for sugar compensation is delivering the money before the industry collapses. It is possible that EU budget support will be provided.
International Trade Department and DFID Barbados are engaged on Economic Partnership Agreements. The main issue is to what extent the Caribbean will trade together.