Department For International Development

Summary of Key Findings from Qualitative and Quantitative Research Among the Public and Opinion Leaders

Prepared for: Department for International Development
January 1998

1. Consultation Objectives

• To explore existing attitudes and prejudices to Britain's overseas development programme
• To understand how language and communications relating to international development currently work, and might be improved
• To pre-test new concepts and identify approaches that achieve real domestic resonance

2. The Approach

Qualitative

• 10 group discussions stratified to represent the population as a whole by region, social class, age and gender
• Detailed breakdown of sample:
  
  

  AB	South	Female	50+
  C1C2	South	Male	18-30
  C1C2	South	Female	30-50
  C2DE	South	Male	18-30
  C1C2	Midlands	Female	30-50
  C2DE	Midlands	Male	50+
  C1C2	North	Male	30 - 50
  C1C2	North	Female	50+
  AB	Scotland	Female	18-30
  C1C2	Scotland	Male	30 -50

  
  
  

• 1 'opinion leader' group discussion containing individuals from business, the media, think tanks and the voluntary sector

Quantitative

• 100 Opinion Leaders, representing politics, the media, business and city and think tanks
• 1000 general public interviews, weighted to accurately represent the wider population

3. Awareness of the DFID

• Most claimed to have heard of the DFID
• But unaware of name change
• Prompted awareness of Clare Short's involvement in the DFID
• Most respondents were aware of Clare Short and felt that she had a strong individual image, independent of the DFID

4. Britain's Perceived Role in the World

• Britain's influence on the world stage has been in decline for a number of years
• The election of the new government may change our image abroad by taking a lead on a number of issues
• On these issues Britain could be in the vanguard

5. Britain's Perceived Relationship with Poorer Countries

• Britain's dealings with poorer nations were thought to be characterised by generosity and compassion
• Many of the respondents felt that Britain was viewed by many developing nations as a 'soft touch'
• And a general feeling that aid and assistance in the past had been misplaced
• Britain should adopt a harder, more demanding approach
• Nevertheless, Britain's role as a supplier of emergency relief and aid did not appear to be in question

6. The Language of Development

• The words that appeared to strike a chord:
  • 'development'
  • 'sustainable'
  • 'partnership'
  • 'ethical'
• On the relief front
  • 'emergency'
  • 'humanitarian'

7. Organisations and Responsibilities

• There was a general perception that the larger aid charities were performing a valuable function
• High awareness of specific issues - landmines, the rainforest, etc.
• Personalities as spokespeople can help raise public awareness
• Respondents didn't begrudge giving money to overseas charities but:
  • doubts about some of the charities operations
  • and fears that money rarely reached those who were need
• Comic Relief immune from this - 'before and after' slots on television help on this count
• This is important to remember- people want to know where their money is going, that it is not being wasted and provides some long-term benefit

8. Business and the Developing World

• There appeared to be a growing awareness of the role that businesses play in developing countries
• But confusion over what is an ethically sound product
• 'Ethical trade kitemark' met with an enthusiastic response:
  • if government sponsored it would set a standard that consumers could understand
  • and it would force manufactures to trade responsibly.
  • and would be the kind of thing that companies like to compete for
  • Although opinion leaders felt a need to define what 'ethical trade' actually meant
• Empowering the individual to feel as if their action is making a difference

9. Poverty Reduction Targets

Respondents were asked for their reactions to the government's poverty reaction targets:

Poverty

• Halving the number of people living in extreme poverty by 2015

Schools

• Universal primary education in all countries by 2015

Women

• Progress towards equality for women, particularly in schools, by eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005.

Death rates

• Cutting the death rate for children under 5 by two-thirds by 2015
• Cutting the death rate for mothers who die during childbirth by three-quarters by 2015

Contraception

• Universal access to contraceptive health services to all individuals of appropriate ages as soon as possible and no later than 2015.

Environment

• All countries to have national strategies for sustainable development by 2005
• Reversing the current trends in the loss of environmental resources at global and national levels by 2015

10. Reaction to these Targets

• Initial reaction - too ambitious
• Britain can't achieve these targets alone
• Despite initial scepticism, most respondents believe that these are worthy targets to set
• There is an opportunity for Britain to take the lead on these issues
• Universal access to contraceptive health services is seen as the key to relieving poverty as is universal access to primary education
• Achieving these two targets a prelude to poverty reduction

11. Why Must Britain Achieve these Targets?

Respondents were shown a series of statements:

'Britain has a moral obligation to help countries less prosperous than itself'

• No more of an obligation than any other developed county
• We should be helping countries in need, not just those who are less prosperous

'It is in Britain's interest to help developing countries in order to improve Britain's trade prospects and make the world a more stable place'

• General agreement

'It is in Britain's interest to help developing countries in order to prevent the spread of disease'

• Agreement,
• But a responsibility of the UN, WHO

'It is in Britain's interest to help developing countries in order to protect the global environment'

• General agreement
• But can we force other countries to act responsibly?

12. How should Britain's Budget Be Spent?

Respondents were shown a series of statements:

'The British government should only provide aid in emergencies'

• Respondents disagreed, but this did not imply a 'blank cheque' approach to aid

'The British government should continuously help other, particularly developing, countries to develop their own economies'

• Agreement but dependent upon a number of strict guidelines:

'The British government should only provide aid and assistance to other countries if it is clearly in Britain's interest to do so'

• Most respondents disagreed
• A need for a balance between what we can afford and where it is in our interest to help

13. Mission Statements

Respondents were asked to comment upon a number of mission statements, focusing upon importance and achievability

MISSION STATEMENTS	MOST IMPORTANT	LEAST IMPORTANT	MOST ACHIEVABLE	LEAST ACHIEVABLE
To ruthlessly focus our work on poverty elimination			X
To halve absolute poverty by 2015	X			X
To work towards sharing the benefits of globalisation among all peoples	X		X
To put development at the heart of government thinking		X
To promote business which respects human rights, labour standards and the environment	X		X
To treat people in developing countries and partner governments as equals		X
To deliver education for everyone - especially girls and primary health care for everyone	X
To ensure everyone has access to secure, clean water	X
To use our influence on the world stage and international institutions to reduce and conflict and to promote development	X		X
To promote development education in this country and across the world			X

14. White Paper Responses

Respondents were asked their reactions to summarised statements from the DFID white paper and an accompanying quote

(i) We shall re-focus international development on the elimination of poverty and the encouragement of growth to benefit the world's poor.

Speech EXTRACT:
'I believe abject poverty could be eliminated from the world in our lifetime, or at least within the lifetime of our children. Clearly, there can be no more noble a task that the world could commit itself to as we approach a new millennium.'

RESPONSE:

• It is a 'noble task'
• But a massive one as well

(ii) We shall pursue agreed international development targets in partnership with poorer countries and work closely with other donors and development agencies to strengthen the commitment to the elimination of poverty.

SPEECH EXTRACT:
'...the effectiveness of what we are able to do through the aid programme depends not just on the size of our spend but crucially on the policies and attitudes of developing country governments'

RESPONSE:

• A move away from a 'blank cheque' attitude
• The partnership approach is key

(iii) We shall use resources pro-actively to promote political and financial stability. All government policies affecting developing countries will give particular attention to human rights and an ethical approach to international relations.

SPEECH EXTRACT:
'We are committed to bringing ethics into our foreign policy. This means that the needs and interests of the developing world are properly considered.'

RESPONSE:

• A fine principle but harder to implement in practice

(iv) We will reverse the downward trend of development assistance and ensure that resources made available are used only for the purposes intended.

SPEECH EXTRACT:
'I should make it clear that my aim is to close down my department. But in order to do that we must first meet our commitment to reverse the decline in British aid.'

RESPONSE:

• Respondents were not aware of the decline in aid
• Nearly all supported the doctrine 'spend more to spend less' but it's a massive task

15. Quantitative Research: General Findings

Involving:

• 100 opinion leaders
• 1000 members of the general public
• Opinion Leaders have a greater perception of both the DFID and Clare Short than the general public
• Around 40% of those who are aware of the DFID (both general public and opinion leaders) recognise that it provides aid for poorer developing countries
• Most members of the public are not aware of any differences between the DFID and the ODA
  • a small proportion of opinion leaders recognise some differences: 'development, not aid' and 'part of the Cabinet'
• Most respondents believe that the amount of government aid given to developing countries is either 'too low' or 'about right'
• Most opinion leaders thought that the DFID's budget was under 1% of government spending, while most of the general sample believed it to be between 0 and 9%

Most respondents agreed that the government does not do enough to explain to taxpayers why it is spending £2billion on foreign aid

DFID Objectives

Respondents were asked to what extent they felt the following objectives were, firstly important, and secondly achievable

OBJECTIVES	IMPORTANT?		ACHIEVABLE?
	GENERAL	OPINION LEADERS	GENERAL	OPINION LEADERS
To ensure that everyone has access to clean water	94%	93%	69%	47%
To deliver primary healthcare for everyone	89%	89%	57%	22%
To halve absolute poverty by 2015	77%	76%	32%	7%
To promote business which respects human rights, labour standards and the environment	76%	76%	44%	41%
To deliver education for everyone, especially girls	75%	84%	53%	34%
To treat people in developing countries and partner governments as equals	67%	66%	43%	50%

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