Agulhas Applied Knowledge is delighted that it will support the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) as the lead service provider of its programme of reviews from 2024-2028, continuing a long history of support for the UK aid scrutiny body.
Since 2015, Agulhas has led consortiums delivering strategic and portfolio reviews and evaluations for ICAI, producing high-quality, high-impact reports and helping to shape the evolution of UK development assistance at the highest level. Agulhas and its partners have worked on more than 100 reviews and evaluations of different aspects of UK aid, covering a wide range of sectors, themes and geographies, and supported commissioners to deliver the results to the International Development Committee in the UK parliament.
Since its inception, ICAI has been an invaluable part of the UK aid system, providing an independent and robust evidence base for learning across His Majesty’s Government (HMG). Agulhas has proudly been a key part of ICAI’s journey since then, contributing to research that makes a significant impact on UK aid policy. In 2015, for example, ICAI’s influential report on How DFID learns helped to set the standard for continuous learning in the UK aid programme.
Agulhas has also supported ICAI as its lead service provider through tumultuous times in the UK aid sector, including the merger of the Department for International Development (DFID) and Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to form the FCDO, and the monumental pivoting of all UK aid programmes to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. While global aid continues to evolve, and climate change remains an ever-present global threat to progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Agulhas is proud to continue its work with ICAI, leading a new consortium and supporting a new phase of its work.
A new consortium will be led by Agulhas and made up of Ecorys, Itad and IOD Parc, alongside a network of global partners and expert consultants across the international development sector. The consortium will work under contract to ICAI, whose mandate is to provide independent evaluation and scrutiny of the impact and value for money of all UK government official development assistance (ODA).
The consortium looks forward to supporting ICAI on a range of new review topics, as the commission works to promote the continuous learning of UK government departments and robust scrutiny of UK aid spending.
About the Independent Commission for Aid Impact
The Independent Commission for Aid Impact scrutinises UK aid spending. It operates independently of government and reports to Parliament through the House of Commons International Development Committee (IDC) or their ICAI Sub-Committee. ICAI’s formal remit is to provide independent evaluation and scrutiny of the impact and value for money of all UK government ODA. ICAI is led by three commissioners and supported by a small secretariat based in London. ICAI appoints a service provider to offer international development expertise on its reviews.