DFID’s approach to managing fiduciary risk in conflict-affected environments

Effective management of fiduciary risk is key to achieving value for money and ensuring that UK aid makes maximum impact.

Score: Green/Amber
  1. Status: Completed
  2. Published: 9 August 2016
  3. Type: Performance review
  4. Subject: Anti-corruption, tax avoidance and fiduciary risk, Fragile states
  5. Assessment: Green/Amber
  6. Location: Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Yemen
  7. Lead commissioner: Alison Evans

Summary

The Department for International Development (DFID) has committed to spending at least half of its budget in fragile states and regions. These include extremely challenging operating environments, such as Syria, Somalia and Yemen, where DFID’s access is constrained and the risk of fraud or misuse of funds may be heightened. Effective management of fiduciary risk is key to achieving value for money and ensuring that UK aid makes maximum impact.

In this performance review, we assess fiduciary risk management at corporate, country portfolio and programme levels. We explore the different aspects of fiduciary risk management (identification and assessment of fiduciary risk, mitigation and monitoring), how DFID sets its fiduciary risk appetite and makes risk-based decisions, and how well it learns about fiduciary risk management.

We awarded a green-amber score and made four recommendations.

Timeline

Approach

Published 15 February 2016

Evidence gathering

Complete

Review publication

Published 9 August 2016

Government response

Published 12 September 2016

Parliamentary scrutiny

IDC hearing 19 October 2016

ICAI follow-up

Published 21 June 2017