High Level Forum - Accra 2008

2008-09-05

The High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness held in Accra has finished with the willingness of all the participants of improving aid conditions, as well as of assuring the fulfillment of the Paris Declaration of 2005. One of the most relevant topics throughout the meeting, that represents the review of the decisions taken in Paris, is the recognition of the economic, social and political realities of recipient countries, and the limitation of those conditionalities linked to Aid. These changes have been made to improve Aid management. It is intended to avoid that Aid becomes a tool inside donor countries’ foreign policies, and that it becomes limited to the interests of some states. Thus, the intention is to avoid that Aid perpetuates as a tool of the so-called “Neocolonialism”. The Final Declaration also attracts attention because of the recognition of the key role played by Civil Society, who is an important actor in the whole process, and can also play a key role in improving Aid. All these factors, along with some others present in the Final Declaration, are the elements that must drive to an important shift in the conception of Aid, and to a fundamental improvement of the development conditions of recipient countries. These changes should be visible in the next meeting, in 2010.

For further information, visit:

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/ACCRAEXT/Resources/4700790-1217425866038/ACCRA_4_SEPTEMBER_FINAL_16h00.pdf

2008-09-04

The Accra meeting is the fourth stage of a process that began with the presentation of the Millennium Development Goals by the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in 2000. Since that moment some stages have been overcome in order to improve aid management and its effectiveness. The first stage was the International Conference on FfD in Monterrey (Mexico) in 2002. The second one was the High-Level Forum on Harmonization held in Roma in 2003. And the third stage was the Paris High-Level Forum in 2005, where the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness was endorsed. This Declaration is being reviewed these days at the High-Level Forum in Accra which should lead us to the final stage of the process: the International Conference on FfD in Doha (Monterrey +6) next November 2008. One of the most significant innovations in relation to the prior meeting, which led to the Paris Declaration, is the shift on the management model. While in Paris the focus was on technical matters, in Accra we can find a results focus. In this focus on results, political factors and the role of citizens’ rights have a top position, although some voices from civil society point out that some important matters, such as human rights or gender rights, are being marginalised. This is where Civil Society has worked harder, looking for a more pragmatic than theoretical process that makes up a real process of change for recipient countries.

For further information, visit:

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/ACCRAEXT/Resources/4700790-1220355325443/DayTwo-ENG.pdf

2008-09-03

The Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness has begun today, with two very different perspectives on the ODA reality. In its first press release, the Forum participants (162 countries) have stated that development strategies have improved since the endorsement of the Paris Declaration in 2005. To be precise, they affirm that recipient countries are taking ownership of their development programs, leading its design and incorporating civil society and the private sector within the process of formulation and implementation. They also point out that donor countries are providing support for capacity development and institution building in developing countries. From civil society, however, more critic views about the Paris Declaration implementation effects are being expressed. Aid Watch Philippines affirms, through its coordinator, that the achievements after the endorsement of the Declaration have been scarce. On the one hand, the organisation points out that, since 2003, less than a third of all bilateral official development assistance has been available for programs for which developing country partners can set their own preferences. On the other hand, from 2000 to 2006 only 28% new aid money was channeled to assist developing countries in poverty reduction and meeting the MDGs. This is why Aid Watch Philippines proposes, among other strategies, to set new ways for measuring ownership, which ensure that the process of formulation and implementation of these policies is managed by the affected populations, not for donor governments or the World Bank.

For further information, visit:

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/ACCRAEXT/Resources/4700790-1220290989866/Prelease-09-02.pdf
http://www.betteraid.org/

2008-09-02

The Review of the 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness is taking place in Accra (Ghana) from 2 to 5 September. On 31 August and 1 September a Civil Society meeting with 400 different organizations' representatives was held parallel to the official meeting. In its Final Declaration the Civil Society denounces that the progress needed to meet the Internationally Agreed Development Goals has not been achieved. On the other hand, it points out that aid effectiveness must be analyzed in relation to other factors, like trade, external debt, domestic and international resource mobilisation and the international governance system. Moreover, aid effectiveness must be tackled as a politic -not technical- challenge.

For further information, visit:

http://www.accrahlf.net