UNISDR statement on DFID Multilateral Aid Review

The secretariat of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) has taken note of the Multilateral Aid Review issued by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) and is preparing a formal response based on a thorough review of the report.

UNISDR is cognizant that the decisions contained in the report are based on DFID’s assessment of the effectiveness of its contributions to 43 multilateral organizations; the end objective – to ensure that the United Kingdom gets maximum value for money from its contributions to multilateral organizations.

The secretariat regrets the negative impression conveyed about its work in the DFID report and will carefully review these assessments to learn from the evidence presented.

Notwithstanding, since 2009, UNISDR, aware of the needs to further improve its performance, has taken a number of measures to this end, including independent evaluations from audit mechanisms, from within the United Nations and via an external body. The secretariat also works closely with a number of countries who have made it possible for UNISDR to invest in improving its performance.

UNISDR welcomes the commitment by the Government of the United Kingdom to provide disaster risk reduction support to selected countries where it will have a genuine impact on climate change and poverty reduction.