Public Agenda (Accra)
Frederick Asiamah
8 September 2008
opinion
Accra — Developing countries, especially those in Africa, were taught a good lesson that they ought to take their destinies into their own hands and stop over dependence on aid; if the dramatic end to the Third High-Level Forum (HLF-3) on Aid Effectiveness was anything to go by.
The forum, hosted by the Ghana Government from September 2-4 in Accra, adopted the "Accra Agenda for Action (AAA)", which Hon. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Ghana's Finance and Economic Planning Minister, described as the "product of long consultations."
The AAA, an eight-page document with 32 paragraphs, commits partners to improve efforts at achieving three of the main focal areas contained in the 2005 Paris Declaration namely: strengthening country ownership over development; building more effective and inclusive partnerships for development and delivering and accounting for results.
But hours to the adoption of the document, fear gripped many representatives from aid-receiving countries and of civil society groups over apparent entrenched positions taken by America and Japan, two of the world's major donor countries.
And even after last minute concessions, many believe the two countries still had their way because the AAA - which went through at least five drafts - fell short of offering comprehensive timelines for most of the actions agreed upon to be taken. In cases where timelines were set, the donors had everything to gain and nothing to lose.
For instance, a negotiator for developing countries had told the Inter Press Service (IPS) news agency anonymously that "the text agreed upon was entirely devoid of any time-bound measurable goals, due to objections from the United States and Japan."
The negotiator claimed of the final text, "Whatever we said, they basically said 'no' to it." He added, "What we have is nice, slightly fuzzy and positive language, but there is no monitorable timetable-bound commitment."
Late on Thursday September 4, the final draft of the AAA was made available with a number of timelines believed to be the result of a last-minute push by developing countries and European ministers. That notwithstanding, there were many clear dissenting views when Mr. Baah-Wiredu asked for the adoption of the AAA at a plenary session. Many participants, albeit the minority, declined to applaud or even stand to show they agreed.
The civil society voices for Better Aid viewed the AAA as a "marginal progress to reform ineffective aid." The group said the AAA sought to make aid work better for the poor, "but backroom deals and obstructions within the negotiations have soured the deal." The group appeared to tie the stampeded deliberations to the fact that it was organized by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) - a rich country donor club.
Wole Ololoye, ActionAid spokesperson said "It is disgraceful that powerful countries have denied the poor the chance to benefit from better aid. Future aid negotiations cannot be run by a rich country club. They must be moved to a forum where northern and southern countries can negotiate on equal terms."
Later, he told the BBC that America and Japan prevented some of the most important reforms.
Dr. Rose Mensah-Kutin, NETRIGHT, Ghana, stated that "It is scandalous that donor governments have refused to remove damaging restrictions that increase the costs of food aid."
Oxfam International welcomed the AAA but said it still needed action. Robert Fox, Oxfam International head of delegation to the forum said, "The stage is set for important improvements in the way aid is delivered. But the Accra Agenda needs to be backed by urgent action if it is to live up to its name."
He cautioned, "It won't have any impact on the lives of people living in poverty unless its promise is put into practice."
Ahead of the adoption of the AAA, Hon. Paul Tiensten, Minister of National Planning and District Development for Papua New Guinea, released a statement registering his government's disappointment leading to the draft document. "We feel that despite some consultations, the discussion process of the draft Accra Agenda for Action has not been sufficiently inclusive and democratic."
Papua New Guinea was concerned that the AAA text did to introduce commitments towards promoting and enhancing South - South Cooperation, "such as the adoption of triangular cooperation schemes already adopted by some development partners."
The country said for these considerations, her delegation was "not currently prepared to endorse the final text of the Accra Agenda for Action, and will further reflect on its appropriateness and usefulness."
But the United States was very satisfied with the process. Henrietta Fore, leader of the US delegation to the forum, stated that "The United States is pleased with the new Accra Agenda for Action. It is a realistically ambitious agenda. It seeks to change the face of poverty and help developing nations to manage aid more effectively."
The US also said it "succeeded in inserting into the Accra Agenda for Action (AAA) several concrete actions to significantly advance the implementation of the Paris Declaration so that partner developing countries would assume more ownership, accountability and partnership with U.S. foreign assistance."
The adopted AAA recalled the modalities agreed upon in the Paris Declaration, but noted, "Evidence shows we are making progress, but not enough. A recent evaluation shows that the Paris Declaration has created powerful momentum to change the way developing countries and donors work together on the ground."
It said in reference to the 2008 Monitoring Survey that a large number of developing countries have improved their management of public funds. Donors, in turn, are increasingly improving their coordination at country level. "Yet the pace of progress is too slow. Without further reform and faster action we will not meet our 2010 commitments and targets for improving the quality of aid."
Looking forward the agenda said "We will take action to accelerate progress." In doing this delegates identified three major challenges that need to be addressed to accelerate progress on aid effectiveness.
Firstly, country ownership is key. Developing country governments will take stronger leadership of their own development policies, and will engage with their parliaments and citizens in shaping those policies. Donors will support them by respecting countries' priorities; investing in their human resources and institutions; making greater use of their systems to deliver aid; and increasing the predictability of aid flows.
The second thing to do is to build more effective and inclusive partnerships. In recent years, more development actors-middle income countries, global funds, the private sector, civil society organisations-have been increasing their contributions and bringing valuable experience to the table. This also creates management and coordination challenges. Together, all development actors will work in more inclusive partnerships so that all our efforts have greater impact on reducing poverty.
Thirdly, "More than ever, citizens and taxpayers of all countries expect to see the tangible results of development efforts. We will demonstrate that our actions translate into positive impacts on people's lives. We will be accountable to each other and to our respective parliaments and governing bodies for these outcomes."
Delegates admitted, "Without addressing these obstacles to faster progress, we will fall short of our commitments and miss opportunities to improve the livelihoods of the most vulnerable people in the world." They pledged, "Therefore, we are reaffirming the commitments we made in the Paris Declaration and, in this Accra Agenda for Action, are agreeing on concrete and monitorable actions to accelerate progress to meet those commitments by 2010."
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Public Agenda. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
