Devex - The future of DfID — and UK development cooperation

"To be able to respond to modern-day challenges, U.K. development agencies need to shift their focus away from aid toward greater policy coherence.

Given that the U.K. will no longer provide aid to some middle-income countries such as India, its Department for International Development should form new models of cooperation within the health, education, culture, law and science sectors. Doing so will place more emphasis on working with small organizations, rather than larger delivery partners.

These were the recommendations of a new report launched this month by the International Development Committee, where a group of influential members of Parliament argued that while aid is essential to reduce poverty and reach development and environmental goals, aid alone is not enough. Recommendations in the report were based on evidence collected over a period of seven months from more than 60 development organizations and experts.

And global development professionals should heed the messages in the report, Overseas Development Institute team leader for public goods and services Leni Wild told Devex..."

Read the full article on Devex.com.

Guardian - Terrorism, fines and money laundering: why banks say no to poor customers

"When people in developing countries don’t have access to a bank account, physical proximity to a bank is usually the first challenge that springs to mind, but sometimes the reason a person is unable to access a secure place to store their savings is as simple as them not having a piece of paper to prove who they are.

Banking regulations vary between countries, and some allow banks to set their own rules about what proof of identity they accept for new customers to make sure no one is excluded. In South Africa Standard Bank accepts a letter verifying a person’s address from a tribal chief for certain accounts, while Postbank offers a Mzansiaccount, which does not require any proof of address but only offers basic transactional services and has a balance limit of 25,000 South African Rand (£1,362).

However, international banking standards set by the intergovernmental Financial Action Taskforce recommend that people opening an account provide specific documents. These “know your customer” (KYC) guidelines are not new, and have prevented poorer communities from accessing bank accounts for years. But there is increasing concern that KYC is becoming more restrictive, making access to finance harder for local banks and populations and damaging developing economies’ opportunity to grow..."

Read the full article on the Guardian Global Development Professionals Network.