36 Bangladesh, Burma and the Rohingya crisis • DFID Burma is also working [ … ]to encourage the Government of Burma to produce a national development plan for the country, against which all donors could align to support positive development. • as part of our membership of the Cooperation Partners’ Group (CPG), we have inputted suggestions to the Government’s (still draft) Development Assistance Policy which sets out how the Government of Burma will work with donors. • DFID Burma received a specific request from the Department of Social Welfare (DSW) to support the operationalisation of the National Strategic Plan for the Advancement of Women in Burma (NSPAW).104 So, although DFID is not providing financial aid directly to the Government of Burma it is providing ‘technical assistance’ and advice to the Government of Burma which is not without cost. 76. Dr Dasandi told us: If it is felt that the situation is likely to deteriorate and there is very little we can do to help by political engagement as an international community, then the answer, if that is the response, is, yes, you start to stop working with that Government, if it is felt that this is no longer going to help. It is a question of what the alternatives are to that and whether the situation is going to get drastically worse. If it is felt there is no longer any point of engagement, then the UK Government should be considering those options.105 77. Richard Montgomery from DFID said: we have been discussing with the Secretary of State how we make sure we are working on the right things in Burma going forward, given that there have been these atrocities. One of the focuses that we want to give is on building the capacity of the seven states and divisions rather than just central Government. If we are to do that, we need to have some remit to engage with the central Government, because that is where a lot of the money comes from. If we want to build the capacity of states and regions, we need to engage with both the central and the state systems. That comes back to the Minister’s point that, if we really want to nudge change forward and back people who want progressive change, we have to have some level of engagement with the Government.106 78. The Minister’s view was: We can be sure that, if there is a cut-off of the relationship with Burma— if it returns to isolation—those voices in Burma that know that what has happened is wrong and that wish to challenge what has happened will have no support from us, because we will have cut off the contact. I do not think that is the right approach for diplomacy, so we will continue our efforts. Have they resulted in what we want so far? No, but those efforts will continue. 104 105 106 Department for International Development (DBB016) Q204 Q255