The foreign secretary has appointed a former DfID perm sec to conduct a review of the government’s approach to international development.
Minouche Shafik, who was permanent secretary from 2008 to 2011 at the then-Department for International Development, which was subsumed into the Foreign Office in 2020, is departing her role as president of Columbia University in the United States to chair the review, which will also look at how to improve capability.
The review is one of three that David Lammy has ordered, according to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, which said more details of the reviews would be set out soon.
Baroness Shafik said: “I am honoured to have been asked by the UK’s foreign secretary to chair a review of the government’s approach to international development and how to improve capability. I am very pleased and appreciative that this will afford me the opportunity to return to work on fighting global poverty and promoting sustainable development, areas of lifelong interest to me.
“It also enables me to return to the House of Lords to reengage with the important legislative agenda put forth by the new UK government.”
Labour’s manifesto set out the plans for a review of international development, stating: “Labour will turn the page to rebuild Britain’s reputation on international development with a new approach based on genuine respect and partnership with the global South to support our common interests. To counter the growing influence of malign actors and boost efforts to combat threats like climate change, the UK’s development work must be closely aligned with our foreign policy aims, co-ordinated to tackle global poverty, instability, and the climate and nature crisis.”
“We will renew expertise and focus, especially in priority areas such as supporting economic transformation, tackling unsustainable debt, empowering women and girls, supporting conflict prevention, and unlocking climate finance,” it added.
A National Audit Office report, published earlier this year, found that the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's “development capability has reduced” since the merger of the FCO and DfID.
It found there was a lack of evidence that the merger had provided value for money; that churn has hindered progress; and that a discrepancy in pay between officials overseas and at home urgently needed to be resolved. But it also noted there have been positive consequences of the "more integrated approach" and stated that the merger was "back on track" after the department reworked its "unrealistic" plans.
Shafik, who became a peer in 2020, has left Columbia University after just one year as president following controversy over how she dealt with student protests over the Gaza conflict.
She came in for criticism for her decision to summon New York Police Department officers to enter the university’s campus and clear an encampment of protestors, leading to arrests of around 100 students who were occupying a university building. She was also accused of failing to make Jewish students feel safe.
Shafik said it had been an “honour and privilege” to lead Columbia University but that there had been “a period of turmoil where it has been difficult to overcome divergent views across our community”. She said this period had "taken a considerable toll on my family, as it has for others in our community”.
“Over the summer, I have been able to reflect and have decided that my moving on at this point would best enable Columbia to traverse the challenges ahead,” she said.