Participants at the launch of Roger Riddell’s new book, ‘Does Foreign Aid Really Work?’ at ODI last week were surprised to hear Sir Mike Aaronson, former director of the Save the Children Fund, suggest that DFID should be merged back with the FCO.  

Sir Mike said:

'The logical conclusion… in terms of how we are organised to deliver, is that… we should have a single external relations policy, which is obviously linked to domestic policies… but which doesn’t separate humanitarian from development policy, and doesn’t even separate humanitarian and development policy from foreign affairs and security.  …Do we really even need a separate DFID anymore?  Shouldn’t it just take over the FCO?  If we look at the downsides of NOT having a joined-up approach – of, in effect, having two foreign ministries operating in much of the globe – I think that it is worthy of consideration.’

You can listen to the meeting audio in full here.

This is a step further than I have so far gone, but the question of how development and foreign policy relate in the new development agenda is something we have debated in ODI.

Some useful related links are:

• Launch and discussion event at ODI, 24 April 2007

• ‘Does Foreign Aid Really Work?’ A review by Simon Maxwell

• Is DFID any good or isn’t it? And who’s asking? - blog by Simon Maxwell

• Where next for DFID? A public debate is needed on the forthcoming Public Service Agreement and budget settlement - blog by Simon Maxwell

• Is ‘human security’ a neat way of framing a poverty-focused aid programme, or a clever device for the EU to appropriate development aid for the purposes of foreign policy? – blog by Simon Maxwell