Addis Ababa — "While Africa has made significant improvements and aims to foster sustainable transformative growth, the mixed results recorded with the MDGs warrant that we think global partnerships anew." The call was made by Mr. Carlos Lopes, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) at the 2-day High-level Symposium on A renewed global partnership for development for the post-2015 era.
Mr. Lopes said global partnerships can work for Africa, "if they are aligned with the strategic vision of the continent and buttressed by a unified continental voice."
The Executive Secretary elaborated on failures in mutual accountability that underline the global partnership for development as reflected in the downward trends in ODA flows, due in part to the Eurozone's sovereign debt crisis; as well as the disappointing Aid for Trade commitments and disbursements.
"This phenomenon is occurring when resources are needed to ramp up efforts towards achieving the MDGs by 2015 - the timing of the decline in ODA could not have come at a worse moment," lamented Lopes.
While critiquing the partnerships that have underpinned the MDG framework for not going far enough to address the Continent's daunting challenges, he noted that the imminent end of the MDG era provides an opportunity to revisit and reframe global partnerships, in a way that is mutually beneficial and sustainable.
"A new global partnership must avoid, the donor-recipient logic underpinning several MDGs, which has reinforced the aid dependency of many developing countries, especially in Africa," he stated.
"Global partnerships remain fundamental for addressing global concerns such as climate change, conflict and insecurity, financial instability, illicit capital flow, or health threats," he said; and added that partnerships must focus on addressing the developmental priorities of the continent, in particular, "structural transformation and capacities to leverage and sustain the transformation agenda."
According to Lopes, "global partnerships and financing should ultimately aim to promote autonomy and self-determination of African states, including through support for skills and technological development, as well as industrialization."
He also called for a global partnership that includes new actors and diverse voices, including the youth.
"This new global partnership and financing architecture must be respectful of the development priorities of Africa; and should promote the mutual interests of developed and developing countries; and credibly holds all sides accountable for their actions," he said and emphasised that "failure to do so would constitute a dereliction of our duty as leaders of our institutions, communities and countries."
