Jul 29, 2022

BEI Weekly Update — 29th July 2022

Dear Members and Friends,

As I mentioned in my Newsletter last week, we are excited about the breadth and diversity of the Programme we are compiling for September to December this year. Before we take a break from the Programme, I hope the infographic you can find here will give you a useful overview of the plans we have when everyone returns from their summer break. As ever, the events will be posted on our website for individual bookings.

In our last week before the August break, we hosted two events. We were joined by members of the ICAI team and colleagues from FCDO to share their perspectives on ‘Tackling fraud in UK Aid’, which covered two reviews: the rapid review on tackling fraud in UK aid and a more recent review on tackling fraud in UK aid through multilateral organisations. The reviews found that there were general safeguards in place, but ICAI gave some recommendations on areas of improvement. FCDO accepted most of the recommendations and are actively working on these.

In the first of a developing series of events, we were also joined this week by FCDO Development Director for Pakistan, Annabel Gerry, who shared insights on UK’s ODA funded development support priorities for Pakistan and how these align with the UK government’s International Development Strategy. We were given an overview of Pakistan’s development and political context with the key takeaway being that whilst progress in the country’s development has been made, many of the gains are now at risk where development partners have reduced their development financing, leaving Pakistan in a difficult position. There is plenty of scope for UK businesses in both the digital (across all sectors of development) as well as in climate and climate finance.

Moving beyond the activities for BEI specifically, our parent company Strategy International is launching a youth-led, cross-sector platform called OurVoice after the Summer break. The platform will host experts in interactive webinars and will provide early career employees with a peer-group forum in which to engage on key challenges around issues like mental health, diversity, and sustainability. It will explore ways they can best engage on these issues with their employers. With retention of young talent proving challenging for many organisations, understanding youth priorities has become increasingly important for businesses and young people alike. If you or your organisation would like to get involved or to hear more about the initiative, please contact our colleague Evie Aspinall.

As we head into our August break, I will also be taking a break from the Weekly Newsletter until we return in September. However, from mid-August onwards, I will send out a Weekly Update on the Events Programme, with specific focus on events taking place in September.

I hope you will also have a chance to enjoy some holiday over the coming weeks, with uninterrupted travel and pleasant weather. Our team will remain available throughout the month for any queries you might have, and I look forward to catching up with you again in early September.

With Best Wishes
Derrick

Derrick Sanyahumbi
Chief Executive Officer
British Expertise International

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Don’t forget…

See our full events programme here, and to enquire about becoming a member of BEI, register your interest here.

Join our Working Groups — as part of our member focus, the working groups offer opportunities for peer-to-peer engagement, learning & sharing, profiling expertise & capabilities and highlighting thought leadership. Groups includeClimate Change, Education, and Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, and we also support a Safeguarding Leads Network. For details, please contact our events team.

Join our LinkedIn Group and keep up with our news and our upcoming events highlights. Members can also post and share latest news and thought leadership. Join the group here.

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Upcoming Events

For any event registration support please contact the events team. Click on titles to access full event details. The full Autmn/Winter Calendar of events will be available in coming weeks.

7th September — FCDO Ethiopia: Development Priorities: UK’s development support priorities for Ethiopia

14th September — Middle East Opportunities for UK Business with HM Trade commissioner Simon Penney

15th September — Nature Holds the Key: Exploring the Use of Nature-based Solutions to Combat the Climate Crisis

13th October — The Aga Khan Foundation

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External News & Events

15th September — 2nd Arab British Economic Summit. ABES 2022 will bring together senior government officials, ministers, diplomats, executives, investors and decision makers from the public and private sectors of the UK and the 22 Arab countries. It is a forum that attracts high calibre speakers who share their wealth of expertise and experience with the global audience of business owners, investors and exporters. ABES 2022 is organised by the Arab British Chamber of Commerce, a trusted champion of the Arab-British partnership and an influential voice for business within the UK and Arab World. For more details, click here: https://www.arabbritisheconomicsummit.com/

28th — 29th September — Field Electronics and Sensors Training: the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) one-day BEGINNER course will give participants an introduction to electronics as applied to environmental sensors in the field. The one-day ADVANCED course will build on the Beginners course and Learners will gain advanced knowledge on data logging systems, sensors, communication protocols and remote data downloading. Find more details HERE.