Forum submission on CDC to government inquiry
CDC Group plc, DFID’s wholly owned development finance institution (DFI), has the potential and mandate to contribute to delivering decent work in the global south. But currently, it policies and practices fall well short of DFI best practice on labour standards and do not comply with internationally recognised standards.
The UK government’s International Development Committee recently held an inquiry into CDC’s activities as part of a review of DFID’s Annual Report for 2010. The Forum submitted evidence to the inquiry, in consultation with the DWLSF steering group.
This evidence builds on work already undertaken by the Forum. In March 2010, the Forum held a best practice sharing seminar involving CDC Group, the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, the ITUC and Building and Woodworkers International - bringing together Forum members and representatives from DFID. This seminar followed on from research commissioned by the Forum: Decent work and development finance, which highligted best practice amongst development finance institutions, and identified areas where CDC could improve its policies and practice (see below for more information).
Following recent high-profile critical media coverage of CDC, Andrew Mitchell MP, Secretary of State for International Development anounced a review of CDC’s work on 13 Sept 2010.
