Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effect of the process for charities to bid for funding from her Department on (a) the ability of specialist organisations to successfully bid for such funding and (b) women that are potential benefactors of that funding.

DFID has not made an overall assessment of the effect of funding process on specialist organisations and female beneficiaries. However, DFID has taken a number of steps to increase the range of organisations funded and the accessibility of its funds.

DFID’s 2016 Civil Society Partnership Review recommended a shift towards more open, competitive programmes. This opened up opportunities for a wider range of civil society organisations. This was supported by the 2017 Supplier Review, when DFID committed to cutting red tape to boost competition and open up DFID’s market to a wider range of organisations.

All DFID programmes are required to consider how the programme will contribute to reducing gender inequality. All programmes are encouraged to collect data disaggregated by sex, age, disability and geography to understand who our programmes are reaching, in line with our commitments to the Data Disaggregation Plan and Inclusive Data Charter.