Women in Conflict 1325 Fellowship Programme: FOI release

FOI reference: FOI/18/00570
Date received: 17 February 2018
Date responded: 19 March 2018

Information requested

Relating to the Women in Conflict 1325 Fellowship Programme:

• The most recent programme document as submitted to the Scottish Government for funding, and any documentation relating to this submission produced by the Scottish Government.

• Funding information: does this programme fall under your International Development remit and is it funded from general International Development budgets?

• Is there an independent evaluation of this programme based on its first two years of implementation, specifically monitoring of expenditures?

• Are you working with the UNDPA in Syria or the wider Middle East as well as with host country governments and civil society groups to independently monitor and evaluate this programme?

Response

Regarding your request for documentation, we have provided the following documents:

• Women in Conflict Fellowship 2017 to 2021 – the Programme Proposal from Beyond Borders Scotland to Scottish Government.

An exemption under section section 29(1)(a) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. This exemption applies because it relates to the formulation or development of government policy.

This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. We recognise that there is some public interest in release as part of open, transparent and accountable government, and to inform public debate. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in high quality policy and decision-making, and in the properly considered implementation and development of policies and decisions. This means that Ministers and officials need to be able to consider all available options and to debate those rigorously, to fully understand their possible implications.

A small amount of information has been redacted as an exemption under section 38(1)(b) (personal data) applies to that information. This exemption applies because disclosing the names and contact details of individuals would contravene the data protection principles in Schedule 1 to the Data Protection Act 1998. This exemption is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.

• Documents which cite the Women in Conflict 1325 Fellowship Programme:

A) Scottish Government's International Policy Statement -

/publications/scotlands-international-policy-statement-9781788514026/

B) A Nation With Ambition: The Government's Programme for Scotland 2017-18 –

/publications/nation-ambition-governments-programme-scotland-2017-18/

Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

Queries

In answer to your queries, we have provided the following responses:

1. Funding information: does this programme fall under your International Development remit and is it funded from general International Development budgets?

Beyond Borders Scotland's Women in Conflict 1325 Fellowship Programme is funded from the Scottish Government's International Development Fund. The programme is managed within the Scottish Government by the International Strategy team which, along with International Development and International Relations teams, form the Scottish Government's International division.

2. Is there an independent evaluation of this programme based on its first two years of implementation, specifically monitoring of expenditures?

The evaluation is conducted by the organisation Beyond Borders Scotland, who run the Fellowship and produce twice yearly reports on the progress of the project in accordance with ther terms of its grant conditions. The Scottish Government monitor the programme against Programme for Government commitments and monitor expenditure against agreed budgets.

3. Are you working with the UNDPA in Syria or the wider Middle East as well as with host country governments and civil society groups to independently monitor and evaluate this programme?

The Scottish Government does not work directly with the Governments from which the Fellows are selected, nor are the Scottish Government involved in the selection of Fellows.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses

FOI-18-00570 - WiC Fellowship 2017 to 2021 - Programme Proposal.pdf

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7 page PDF

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200.2 kB