Future of UK aid and development assistance - written evidence from Action Through Enterprise

Action Through Enterprise welcomes this inquiry, and sees it as a vital build on the evidence we gave on Value for Money earlier this year.

We especially welcome the shift towards local provision. Here, we believe, lies not just the path to genuine, long term, cost-efficient change. It is also the path to regaining the British people’s trust in and engagement with international development.

We are a growing NGO with a local team of fifty in Upper West Ghana, delivering transformational change in the country’s most remote and impoverished region. Since 2012, we have touched the lives of more than 23,000 people – 40% of the population of Lawra Municipal. We recently expanded to neighbouring Nandom and plan to move to a third district in 2027. We aim to reach at least 50,000 people by 2028, with a broader ambition to roll out our proven model across the whole region.

We are funded by kind donors, trusts and corporates – and, so far, no government support. We believe we are in the sweet spot: a thriving NGO enabling opportunities and transformation in hard-to-reach, vulnerable communities on a modest budget. And we’re bringing many British people on this journey with us.

We would like to believe there’s a world in which the British government would support us in this vital work. We could achieve so much more with the financial security, expertise and nurturing you could bring. For a relatively modest outlay, we will demonstrate how positive change can happen and can be celebrated - at home and abroad. Thank you for this opportunity to begin the conversation.

What we are trying to achieve -  the end frame

It’s easy to get bogged down in processes, the detail of delivery mechanisms, the boxes on an evaluation form. The tail wags the dog and before we know it, the development is designed to fit the bureaucracy and not the other way around. For organisations like us - who deliver amazing impact on the ground and could do so much more – this can be a challenge. And it’s also a turn off for your donors – the taxpayer. If they only hear about budgets, they’ll just focus on the cost to themselves. The bigger picture will be lost.

So let’s look at where we want to end up: a fair and equal society where everyone can thrive, where they can bring up their families, where they want to live. Aspirations every decent person can align with.

With that in mind, how do we – you, the government, and those of us working on the ground – make it happen?

Good partnership mirrors good development

What should the future of Government engagement with UK based International NGOs be going forward?

We believe the only route to enabling long-lasting change in ultra rural communities is through excellent, locally-led organisations who can listen closely, be agile – and stay the course. This is how ATE operates - and it’s also a brilliant starting point for any partnership.

If the FCDO could support us in the same way we support the people of the Upper West, then a fresh, cost-effective and dynamic model can emerge that really serves the needs of hard-to-reach areas. Without minimising the awful impact of the budget cuts, perhaps there’s actually an opportunity here - a chance to reframe how development looks that puts high impact, low cost NGOs like Action Through Enterprise into the picture?

Let’s paint that picture:

• Collaboration and Trust. We can work together, each bringing our expertise. Flexibility is built in, because we’ll work as partners not adversaries, honest about what is and isn’t working, knowing we can adjust where necessary. Nothing is wasted. Monitoring and evaluation is designed to suit our capacity (and you help us build this) as well as fulfilling your needs. We’re on the same side.

• Nuance and Complexity. There is no silver bullet. Only multi-layered work brings meaningful change in challenging environments. Our impact evidence shows it’s the only way seismic and sustainable transformation will happen – and it needs a sensitive, thoughtful, knowledgeable approach.

• Steadfast and Long Term. Deep-seated poverty isn’t eradicated overnight - and good development work can’t be rushed. Quick wins are often just that, a moment of success that does not sustain. Timescales must fit the challenges, and avoid short-term exit plans and unrealistic self-sustainability goals. It takes commitment and time to build incremental change. But when it happens, it sticks.

Aligned interests, not obligations

Where can complementarity be found between the UK’s aid philosophy and obligations, and its wider foreign policy objectives of economic growth and national security?

Despite a challenging economic climate, Action Through Enterprise has just had its best funding year ever. Yet, no-one who funds us has to. Our donors are not obligated, and whilst many do so out of the kindness of their hearts, they can all see how the interests of Britain and the people we work with in Ghana are not at odds. For them, international development is not a grudge purchase.

Dealing with disaster is a lot more expensive than creating hope. If people are safe, healthy and have that hope and aspiration, everybody benefits. Their thriving community can withstand threats from extremism and climate change. Their young people can see a future – and have no need to risk their lives to come here illegally. If the Upper West grows economically, so will the whole of Ghana – bringing a fantastic economic partnership with the UK and a path forward for west Africa and beyond.

For over a decade, Action Through Enterprise has nurtured a beautiful relationship between people in middle England – many of them new to international development giving - and those 3000 miles away in rural Ghana. This is only possible because we show them what their contribution achieves and how the people of Lawra and Nandom are capitalising on every opportunity. We’re transparent about the challenges and celebrate the successes. They know we value every penny they donate – and can see the difference they are making.

Friends not foes

Do the FCDO, and other departments, have the resources, expertise and time to successfully implement the shift in aid delivery to achieve maximum value for money?

Nurturing relationships and building trust takes time. But it pays off, not just in better outcomes, but in lower costs and less wastage. Work with us to build a trusting partnership and we will deliver phenomenal impact for years to come.

We welcome all due diligence required to ensure the taxpayer trusts us with their money. Our work, our values and our processes are excellent – we’re not afraid of reporting back or living up to high standards. But, with a skeleton UK team (keeping costs down), intimidating processes can edge smaller organisations out of the running for big grants. So we will need support.

We hope you can see this kind of support as part of a virtuous circle rather than a drain on resources. We can all get on the same page right from the start and mitigate more expensive problems later on. And because we are embedded on the ground where the work is delivered, we can offer better results and for less money.

What is needed on the ground?

What needs to change to realise the goal of moving from paternalistic models and relationships to partnerships? ... to empower local delivery of aid and decision making around development? ... to leverage UK expertise and move from “grants to expertise”?

Moving from paternalism to partnership sounds good. But there are dangers in assuming that British advice is more useful – and less paternalistic - than British money.

Firstly, there is already some very effective development happening on the most local of levels, with work delivered by local people in the local language, guided by extensive experience and community engagement on the ground. It’s how Action Through Enterprise works. We’d welcome the chance to build a partnership with FCDO and to learn from whatever expertise is available, just as we are keen to share our expertise within your networks.

But we cannot live by expertise alone. Whilst hugely valuable, it’s not currency for the essentials we need to deliver our work. We know it’s a balancing act, but a certain level of financial commitment will be necessary. Advice without funding is simply not enough - and risks paternalism by a different name.

We urge you to consider providing modest but long-term grants for smaller organisations - a financial investment that will truly pay off. Our cost-effective, community-focused approach, coupled with your expertise and any leverage you can exercise to encourage in-country and corporate investment, will produce outstanding results - and provide a new and empowering model for the future.

A story of hope for Britain

How should the Government be communicating the results of UK aid, and its importance, to the public?

People do care. Comic Relief is still huge. Live Aid is still cherished. In that sense, we’re not sure the ‘values landscape’ has changed that much. It’s all about enabling people to really see the impact of their contribution. Small NGOs excel at this, and not just because - in the absence of other funding – we have to. At Action Through Enterprise, we believe connecting communities here and overseas is part of creating the change we want to see.

Government could tap into this, learning how impact abroad - framed in the right way - becomes impact at home. At a time when people can feel powerless, hopeless even, they see they are making a difference, their money is well spent – and there is hope. Focus on the end frame and show people how a better life for people in Ghana or Iraq or Nepal is good for everyone.

Action Through Enterprise is already creating generational change in rural northern Ghana. With the security and support of a trusting and long-term partner, the Upper West will be a beacon, a shining light of good development - and proof that local work can be a value-for-money way to uplift whole regions. In time, a relatively small financial outlay and some low-cost, thoughtful partnering will result in breathtaking transformation.

That is a story the British people want to hear.

ateghana.org

michele@ateghana.org