May 12, 2000
Development Co-operation Ministers, Heads of Aid Agencies and senior officials met on 11-12 May 2000 for the Annual High Level Meeting of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC)*. With poverty reduction as its central theme, the High Level Meeting identified ways in which the international community can move from policy to action in key areas of development co-operation.
The DAC Chairman, Mr Jean-Claude Faure, summarised the main outcomes:
Poverty reduction strategies and partnership
Members welcomed the major progress made over the last year in defining and implementing comprehensive country-level frameworks, including poverty reduction strategies. They recognised that there are major implications and issues not only for developing countries themselves, but also for bilateral and multilateral donors. They adopted a Policy Statement reaffirming their commitment to these approaches and on ways to fully implement them in close co-operation with multilateral agencies and developing partner countries.
Against this background, they requested the DAC to undertake further work aimed at facilitating the management tasks of partner countries, including simplification, and where possible, greater harmonisation, of the procedures for discussing, delivering and monitoring aid programmes. Such an approach is needed to further improve aid effectiveness. This will require working in association with developing country partners and multilateral institutions, and also active involvement of civil society and private sector organisations in the spirit of partnership. These elements are essential for underpinning genuine ownership by partner countries. Capacity building support from donors is also crucial in this respect.
Members emphasised that all these endeavours will need flexibility, and will vary according to the circumstances and opportunities in individual partner countries, with the quality of governance and policies being of central importance. For countries where the basis for partnership is in question, Members will work together on approaches that recognise the diversity of such situations, including the especially difficult issues which arise in the case of countries affected by conflict.
Policy coherence
Members emphasised that many areas of OECD policy are relevant to the prospects of developing countries to achieve sustainable development and the capacity to benefit from globalisation. They strongly encouraged close collaboration with the other parts of the OECD in framing and then putting into practice the proposed checklist on policy coherence.
Members particularly encouraged a deepening of the co-operation in the OECD in the area of trade and development. They recommended that the connection between trade and development issues be strengthened also at the international level, integrating trade capacity building with comprehensive development frameworks. Strengthening arrangements for ongoing dialogue and monitoring at the international level should be considered in this context. Competition policy was another area suggested for co-operation with developing countries.
Development finance
Members noted that the development finance agenda now involves establishing coherent linkages between external private and public flows of finance and the mobilisation and use of domestic resources in developing countries. In a situation where there are now very large international flows of private market finance and direct investment, official development assistance needs to give special consideration to the poorer countries.
Developing ways of using ODA to help poorer countries attract private finance and investment is an important area of co-operation. Capacity building in the financial sector is also central.
In reviewing the progress with the HIPC Initiative, Members noted that financing arrangements were still not complete and that this could hold up implementation of the initiative for some poor countries in the near future.
Members agreed on the importance of the UN Event on Financing for Development to be held in 2001, as an opportunity to connect the new perspectives on development finance issues into the broader development agenda. They intend to participate actively in the preparations for this event, including on such issues as the link between progress on achieving international development goals and increases in aid budgets and public/private partnerships in developing financial services in less advanced countries and financing global and regional public goods. The active association of other international organisations with the process leading to the UN event, including the World Bank, IMF and WTO, was welcomed.
Gender Equality
Members considered a report on progress made in implementing the DAC Gender Equality Goals established by the High Level Meeting in 1995. This report will be submitted to the UN Special Session "Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the 21st Century" in June 2000.
The report notes that while real strides have been made over the last five years in integrating gender equality goals in development strategies and activities, there is still a long way to go in terms of real commitment, resources, training and implementation. Members agreed with this assessment and emphasised the clear evidence that mainstreaming gender into development is key to achieving the international development goals. They stressed that the empowerment of women, and their greater participation in development co-operation management are essential to the success of development activities.
Finally, they commended the Secretary General for his renewed initiative to mainstream gender equality through out the OECD.
Untying
Members considered a draft Recommendation on the Untying of ODA to LLDCs, developed through intensive consultations over recent months. This text sets out basic objectives and implementation provisions in a manner which is widely acceptable. A DAC meeting on 20 June will consider whether full agreement can be reached.
Aid Volume
The HLM welcomed the increase in aid volume shown by the provisional data on aid volume for 1999 (see Attachment 2). Initial data for 1999 show that DAC Members' total ODA rose by 5 per cent in real terms to USD 56 billion. Most of the increase was due to special assistance from Japan to countries affected by the Asian financial crisis, and the international effort to assist refugees from Kosovo. ODA represented 0.24 per cent of donors' combined GNP, up from 0.23 per cent in 1998.
Data for each DAC Member are shown in the attached table and charts. Total aid from G7 countries was 0.21 per cent of their combined GNP. Falls in aid from Italy and the United Kingdom were largely due to the timing of deposits to international financial institutions. Total aid from non-G7 countries was 0.44 per cent of their combined GNP. Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden remained the only countries to reach the United Nations ODA target of 0.7 per cent of GNP.
Discussions with the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa
Following the High Level Meeting a number of participants held a luncheon meeting with Mr K.Y. Amoako, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, co-hosted by the Minister of Development Co-operation for the Netherlands, Ms Evelyne Herfkens, and the Chairman of the DAC, Mr Jean Claude Faure. Mr Amoako described the work of the ECA in promoting an African-driven development agenda and harnessing African intellectual resources, policy research and civil society to build a strong African capacity to identify and work on African development issues and to provide a stronger African voice in international policy making. Members underlined the importance of these efforts and expressed their encouragement. They looked forward to working further with ECA to develop a strong African capacity for development analysis and shaping effective action on Africa's development challenges.
1 An "historical brochure", Development Assistance Committee in Dates, was released and is available on the OECD/DAC internet site.
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