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About this Document
This draft policy paper has been prepared by the International Civil Society Steering Group for the Accra High Level Forum. It aims to provide the basis for further discussions with civil society about the aid effectiveness agenda, in particular at the regional and national consultations planned for September-November 2007. It is hoped that these discussions will help to develop and prioritise the positions and recommendations of CSOs on aid effectiveness.
The document will form the basis for a civil society position paper for the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, to be held in Accra, Ghana, in September 2008; and for advocacy with donors and governments in the interim.
Consultation discussions of this draft should consider the following questions:
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How relevant are these recommendations to the reality of how aid works on the ground? Would they make a difference?
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Are there new recommendations or ideas which should be added? What would you do to make aid more accountable and effective?
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Are there recommendations or ideas in the draft which should be removed?
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Which are the most important areas for reform to deliver real change on the ground? Which recommendations should CSOs prioritise in advocacy work?
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What are CSOs. experiences of the aid effectiveness agenda in practice? Are there examples of good or bad reforms which could inform the development of this paper?
Background
Civil society organisations (CSOs) were present in 2005 when donor country members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.s Development Assistance Committee (OECD DAC), developing countries and multilateral institutions signed the Paris Declaration (PD) on Aid Effectiveness.1 Since then, diverse CSOs have been engaged in tracking this agreement, both internationally and in developing countries. CSOs have been raising a range of issues and bringing in different perspectives, trying to ensure that this new framework for aid effectiveness translates into effective and accountable development processes.
CSOs argue that the only true measures of aid.s effectiveness are its contribution to the sustained reduction of poverty and inequality; and its support of human rights, democracy, environmental sustainability and gender equality.
CSOs are promoting a deepening of the aid effectiveness agenda, so that it addresses not just the concerns of the donors and partner governments, but of all stakeholders in the development process. CSOs are particularly concerned about the interests and representation of groups which are often excluded or marginalised, including women and women.s movements.
CSOs are also pushing both for debt cancellation to end the debt crisis in developing countries, and for rich countries to meet their commitments to give 0.7% of GNI as Official Development Assistance (ODA). Rich countries first committed to increase their ODA to this level in 1970 and this commitment was reaffirmed in the Monterrey Consensus of 2002. But very few donors have fulfilled their promise.2
This policy paper outlines some of the key CSO critiques and concerns about the Paris agenda, as well as some specific recommendations for the High Level Forum (HLF) to be held in Accra in 2008.
Footnotes:
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OECD, Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, March 2005, available from: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/11/41/34428351.pdf
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These countries are Luxemburg, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and The Netherlands.
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