The new Development Cooperation Forum (DCF) of the Economic and Social Council met in New York at the beginning of July in what by most accounts was considered to be a very good start.
The DFC aims to provide a forum for all old and new actors in the aid delivery machinery to come together for a frank and critical discussion on how to make foreign aid work better. Although the 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness helped galvanize the international community on that issue, progress is still proceeding at a snail’s pace. A broader and more far-reaching consensus will be required to turn the tide once and for all.
Between high overheads, lack of coordination among donors, weak administrative controls, unilaterally imposed conditions, tied aid and a host of other problems, the results of the over $100 billion that are paid every year to developing countries are meagre. To complicate matters, the face of foreign aid has changed dramatically over the years with the emergence of a multitude of new donors, including large foundations, civil society and local authorities. Their outlays now amount to well over $20 billion a year. Several recipient developing countries are now giving aid to others – most often in the same region – in the frame of growing South–South cooperation. In 2006 alone, some $16 billion exchanged hands in that manner.
The DCF meeting did succeed in fleshing out all of the issues. More importantly, it did so through a very conscious effort to include parliaments in the picture. Just a couple of weeks before the meeting, a forum was held in Rome under the aegis of the United Nations to provide an opportunity for a select group of parliamentarians, local authorities, and civil society representatives to voice their concerns. These were brought to the attention of the DCF during a special presentation given by the IPU Secretary General, Mr. Anders Johnsson; together with the Vice-President of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), Mr. Gerald Trembley, Mayor of Montreal; and the Secretary General of the World Alliance for Citizen Participation (CIVICUS), Mr. Kumi Naidoo. Many of the ministers in attendance at the Forum, as well as the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, also commented on the role of parliament.
The bottom line for the IPU – one that appeared to be shared by many in the room – is that parliamentary oversight is key to ownership of aid at the country level. But to achieve ownership, in addition to accountability and transparency, parliaments in developing countries will need additional capacity to do things like scrutinizing the budget. At the same time, donors must work harder to ensure that most aid is given as budget support, and that all aid, no matter how it is given, is recorded on budget.
The IPU will follow developments closely at the September review meeting of the Paris Declaration to be held in Accra, Ghana. More importantly, the IPU will perform a number of case studies to determine how parliaments deal with aid issues and to examine their relationship with the donor community at the country level. That will set the stage for a more concrete plan of activities to be developed in 2009 in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme and other potential partners.
The full text of the IPU’s statement at the DCF focusing on the outcome of the parliamentary consultations held in Rome in June is available on the IPU website.
