The [him] moderator has read the new report from the Burma Campaign UK and presents the executive summary below and the full report attached. He agrees with some of its points. Overall the amount of funding provided is too little. He wonders how crossborder assistance would be transparent, accountable and independently monitored and how coverage would be measured. And he thinks the report takes a very narrow view of the promotion of democracy. There are many methods to promote democracy beyond funding exile groups and DfID is engaged in funding several of them.
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UK's Development Arm Accused of Failing Burma
Clive Parker
18 December 2006
The UK's Department of International Development was accused on Monday of failing to help some of the most vulnerable people in Burma and of neglecting to support democracy in the country.
A report by Burma Campaign UK entitled Failing the People of Burma? said that a "woefully under-funded" aid program in Burma and lack of cross border humanitarian assistance meant that the DFID "needs to undertake a fundamental rethink of its strategy for Burma."
The DFID spends just eight million pounds (US $16.6 million) per year on aid in Burma, the report said, compared to the 50 million pounds ($97 million) offered annually to Vietnam. The UK government's development arm gives ten times more money to the average African person compared to a Burmese, it added.
BCUK Director Yvette Mahon said that it was not only the lack of money going into Burma that was the problem, but also the way the money was being spent.
"It is astonishing that in Burma of all countries DFID does not fund any projects focused on the promotion of democracy," Mahon said.
The DFID is involved in democracy promotion in other countries, including help on drafting constitutions, but has no formal democracy activities in Burma.
"Of course, we need more aid to tackle disease and poverty in Burma, but it makes no sense to focus solely on the symptoms and ignore the cause of poverty in Burma, which is the regime," Mahon added.
The DFID is due to finalize a review of its policy on Internally Displaced People after coming under pressure to aid cross-border programs. The review was due for publication in October, but is yet to come out, BCUK said.
"While DFID dithers, thousands of people are hiding in Burma's jungles with no food, shelter or medical support," a BCUK statement said on Monday.
The head of the DFID office in Rangoon, Rurik Marsden, who is also the first secretary at the British Embassy, was unavailable for comment on Monday.
British Ambassador Mark Canning told The Irrawaddy in a recent interview that the UK "is one of the largest contributors" to the $100 million Three Diseases Fund---an initiative formulated this year to tackle HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in Burma---"and has shown real leadership in that field."
Burma "is of course not a UK issue specifically, but one of broad international concern," he said. "Britain is playing an active and important role both in terms of trying to bring about positive political change and in providing support for efforts to address some of the humanitarian challenges which the country faces."
Criticism of the UK government's involvement in Burma comes a week after the main opposition Conservative Party in London recommended that British embassies in repressive countries become "Freedom Houses," calling for embassy staff to join democracy protests and further support for groups opposing tyrannical regimes.
Irrawaddy.org
http://www.irrawaddy.org/
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Executive Summary
The Department for International Development (DFID) funds much excellent
work in Burma, and this report is not intended as a criticism of its existing
work, but rather to highlight glaring omissions in DFID’s current Burma
programme. Decades of military rule have reduced Burma to being one of the
poorest countries in the world, despite being a country rich in natural
resources. The dictatorship spends up to half its budget on arms, and less
than 60p per person per year on health and education combined. DFID could
play a crucial role in alleviating poverty in Burma and tackling the root causes
of that poverty. This report is a call for DFID to fulfil that role.
The Burma
Campaign UK has three main concerns with the way DFID operates with
regard to Burma.
• DFID does not provide any support for projects promoting democracy in
Burma.
• DFID does not provide any cross border aid to Internally Displaced People
or other vulnerable people who cannot be reached by aid from inside the
country.
• DFID provides too little aid. The £8m a year budget is not proportionate to
the needs of the country.
NO SUPPORT FOR DEMOCRACY
As the dictatorship in Burma is at the root of humanitarian problems and
underdevelopment, it is impossible to tackle these problems without also
addressing their causes, yet DFID is failing to adequately commit to this.
DFID does not provide any resources to projects promoting democracy,
despite spending millions of pounds on projects promoting democracy in
other countries where oppression and human rights abuses are not so
severe.
NO CROSS-BORDER AID
In many border areas of Burma where poverty is most severe, aid can only
reach people by means of aid workers crossing into Burma from neighbouring
countries. DFID refuses to fund such aid. Following public and parliamentary
pressure in early 2006, DFID held a review of its policy on Internally
Displaced People (IDP) funding. The review was due to be complete in
October 2006, but has still not been published by December 2006. While
DFID dithers, thousands of people are hiding in Burma’s jungles with no food,
shelter or medical support.
NOT ENOUGH AID
Given that health, education, and other key indicators are as severe as in
many of the poorest African countries, DFID’s budget for Burma - £8m per
year - is woefully under-funded. Neighbouring Vietnam receives £50m a year.
If Burmese people were to get as much aid per head as people in Africa,
DFID’s Burma budget would have to increase from £8m in 2007 to £80m. The
Burma Campaign UK is calling for an immediate doubling of DFID aid to
Burma, and a review of funding levels for future years.
http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/pm/weblog.php?id=P238
