6.4 | Planning and preparation for a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq, mid-2001 to January 2003

69. Sir Suma Chakrabarti, DFID Permanent Secretary from 2002 to 2008, told the

Inquiry that DFID’s knowledge of Iraq in 2002 was “pretty scanty”. It had not itself

implemented humanitarian programmes in Iraq in the period leading up to the invasion,

working instead through the UN agencies, NGOs and the International Committee of

the Red Cross (ICRC).51

Between 1979 and 1997, the UK’s international development programme was managed

by the Overseas Development Administration (ODA), a “wing” of the FCO. The Overseas

Development and Cooperation Act 1980 allowed aid funds to be used for a wide variety

of purposes, including supporting political, industrial and commercial objectives.52

A separate Department for International Development (DFID), headed by a Cabinet

Minister, replaced the ODA in 1997.53 Its mission was to “refocus [UK] international

development efforts on the elimination of poverty and encouragement of economic growth

which benefits the poor”. That was to be achieved by focusing on the eight Millennium

Development Goals:

• eradicate extreme poverty and hunger;

• achieve universal primary education;

• promote gender equality and empower women;

• reduce child mortality;

• improve maternal health;

• combat HIV and AIDS, malaria and other diseases;

• ensure environmental sustainability;

• develop a global partnership for development.54

DFID’s mission was enshrined in law through the International Development Act (IDA),

which came into force in July 2002.55 The IDA required that all programmes and projects

must either further sustainable development or promote the welfare of people and be likely

to contribute to the reduction of poverty.

In 2002, DFID adopted a target to increase the proportion of its bilateral aid going to low

income countries from 78 percent to 90 percent (the so-called “90:10” target).56

In 2002/03 nearly half DFID’s resources were spent through multilateral agencies. The

largest parts were the UK’s share of European Community development assistance and

contributions to the World Bank, regional development banks and the UN agencies.57

51 Public hearing, 8 December 2009, Page 9.

52 Barder, Owen, Reforming Development Assistance: Learning from the UK experience. CGD Working