Opening of the 4th High Level Forum On Aid Effectiveness, Busan on 29th Nov.

The forum discussing on 'empowering ability to developing countries' and 'South-South co-operation', will attract the attention as this forum will attemp to change the international trend of aid from 'aid effectiveness' to 'development effectiveness'.

In the 'South-South co-operation' forum, the active discussions will take place on the topics of the change of the role of the developed countries and the improvement of the southern hemisphere countries' co-operation which is gaining its importance lately for the development.

4th High Level Forum will be held in Busan!

HLF-4 will be held for the fourth time in Busan followed by the previous three forums which were held in 2003 Rome, in 2005 Paris and in 2008 Accra and the first country to become the donor country from the beneficiary country.

Since the end of the Korean War, when its per capita national income was only $67, Korea has achieved tremendous development with the help of the foreign aid to become the top 10 largest economy in the world. Last Year, Korea became the 24th member of the Development Assistance Committee(DAC), the subordinate body of the the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD), becoming the donor country to aid other nations.

Particulary, with the help of the foreign aid, Busan developed as the international city being the world's top 5 port city, where HIL-4 will be held. After the Korean War, Busan was the city unloading the foreign aid goods, but now it became the world's top 5 port city, which gives symbolic meaning to the recipient countries.

KDI & KAIDEC holds HLF-4 advance conference

Korea Development Institute(KDI) in collaboration with the Korean Association of International Development holds a HLF-4 advance conference to discuss new agendas of the world which are aid and development effectiveness, co-responsibility for development cooperation, differentiated approach, sharing knowledge for empowerment , and development cooperation on 28th of Nov at Busan Centum hotel ntum hotel

An Interview with Jeffrey Sachs about HLF-4

Jeffrey Sachs from Columbia University who will be participating in 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness(held in Busan, South Korea) as a main speaker says that "a social imbalance can be overcome by IT industry, so we expect the contributions of the Korean Government and corporations."

HLF4 Official Poster

4th High Level Forum on Aid Effecticeness

29 Nov - 1 Dec 2011, Busan, Republic of Korea

Building a New Global partnership for Effective Development Cooperation

Aid ambitions not diminished, insists Commission

Ahead of the fourth OECD High level forum on Aid Effectiveness, the European Commission continues to push for more streamlined, accountable aid programmes, while critics accuse the EU of watering down its ambitions for development.

The forum (HLF4), which takes place in Busan, South Korea, between 29 November and 1 December, will, in addition to addressing the general effects of aid effectiveness in the developing world, will also seek to strengthen partnerships between developing countries, emerging economies, donor countries, NGOs and the private sector.

As well as being billed as the most important international development for some time, the commission is also keen to highlight its inclusiveness. According to the commission, two main points will dominate the agenda: a refocus on commitments already made to aid effectiveness, and ensuring democratic ownership.

The first looks at improving the impact of aid and deliver accountability to the taxpayer, seen as increasingly important in these economic times, while the second aims to guarantee transparency, and the predictability of assistance. “In these difficult financial times, aid effectiveness is more important than ever. It is vital that taxpayer's money goes to where it is needed most in the most efficient way. That is why we’re doing all we can to work closely with developing countries and other partners on the ground,” the spokesperson for Development Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, told New Europe, while behind the scenes there is cautious optimism that the commission can contribute positively to the ongoing debate, and reduce the “fragmentation” of aid, by broadening the agenda and actors taking part to the widest possible variety of partners.

This approach is not without its critics, who see private sector involvement as counterproductive, and who demand to know exactly who speaks for the big corporations, however the commission is keen to have as wide a partnership base as possible (although there has been mixed success with getting some of the foundations on board); insisting that “we are trying to get them round to our agenda,” and that no one gets to the table without having established a firm corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme first.

Perhaps more controversially, the commission is also keen to enhance, as it puts it, “democratic ownership” of aid by continuing to peruse its policy of budget support, and “the use of country systems.” Essentially, this means providing money directly for government’s to work on specific projects, for example, in education. Recipients are only eligible for this kind of support upon provision of thorough plans and the guarantee of transparent auditing procedures, however, not everyone is convinced, not least within the commission itself; Piebalgs is said to be more cautious than predecessor Louis Michel about the policy’s possible success rate.

Despite the apparent confidence, not everyone is convinced that the EU is in a position to deliver on its promises. A recent open letter sent by CONCORD, the European development NGO confederation, accused member states of weakening their collective ambitions. “EU member states provide around half of global aid and the world's poorest people and EU citizens will therefore rightly be looking for EU Governments to lead donor efforts at HLF4 to agree to ambitious action to maximise the development impact of their aid,” read the letter.

“Such action must of course focus on making aid programmes more transparent and effectively scrutinised... it must also focus on tackling a range of practices that undermine aid’s long term impacts and potential for helping countries to end their dependence on it. These include tied aid, unpredictable aid, inappropriate use of conditions, the bypassing of local systems and approaches to aid that fail to strengthen democratic ownership and gender equality.

“Unfortunately,” it continues, “the EU’s common position for HLF4 contains few concrete proposals in these areas. In addition a number of EU member states have been prominent in opposing ambitious proposals made by others on these issues, using a lack of ambition from the likes of new donors such as China as an excuse. This lack of political leadership is in stark contrast to that displayed by the EU at the Accra HLF in 2008 and is likely to undermine the success of HLF4.”

The commission, however, is standing on its record as the world’s largest overseas aid donor, and insists that ambition has not been diminished. “The European Commission is already amongst the most transparent and effective donors.” says Piebalgs’ spokesperson. “We help to reduce poverty in over 150 countries. Yet better coordination amongst European donors could help to save around €5 billion per year.”

“In Busan, [the commissioner] will be calling for donors to better coordinate their actions to avoid duplication, fragmentation and to achieve better impact. With just over three years left to meet the Millennium Development Goals, time is running out. Busan will be a key opportunity for all donors to act together to improve the efficiency of aid.”

http://www.neurope.eu/article/aid-ambitions-not-diminished-insists-commission

New agenda for economic development: Hafeez may attend fourth HLF in Korea

In order to set up new agenda for economic development, Pakistan has decided to attend Fourth High Level Forum (HLF) on aid effectiveness and transparency as well as challenges presented by today's uplift landscape.

The forum, to be held in Bosan, Korea, from November 29 to December 1, is likely to be attended by Finance Minister Abdul Hafez Sheikh, Secretary of Economic Affairs Division (EAD) Abdul Wajid and Parliamentary Secretary of EAD Zill-e-Huma.

Sources told Business Recorder here on Monday that delegations from all over the world, including the Heads of State and representatives of developing and developed countries, heads of multilateral and bilateral institutions, representatives of different public, private, inter-parliamentary, local and regional organisations would sign the 'HLF-4 Outcome Document' on aid effectiveness in Bosan.

Key themes for aid effectiveness include climate change finance, promoting gender equality, delivering effective aid in fragile situations, private sector participation, ownership and accountability beyond the state, south-south and triangular co-operation, aid transparency and capacity development.

Sources said that to set up a new agenda for economic development, almost 2000 delegates from all over the world would be reviewing the steps taken globally for improving the effectiveness of aid.

The First High Level Forum on aid effectiveness was held in Rome in 2002 in which the principles for aid effectiveness were outlined in a concrete declaration.

The Second High Level Forum (Paris, I 2005) marked the first time that donors and recipients both agreed to commitments and to hold each other accountable for achieving these.

The commitments were laid out in the 'Paris Declaration'.

At the Third High Level Forum (Accra, 2008) the need to deepen implementation towards the goals set in 2005 was identified, along with a set of priority areas for improvement.

At the Fourth High Level Forum in Bosan, the world leaders would examine the opportunities and challenges presented by today's development landscape.

Their aim is to build wide consensus on a new framework to support global development.

In preparation, a group of 'sherpas' is shaping a document that contains the main commitments to be endorsed at Bosan.

The sherpas include a) three (3) representatives of low-income countries, to be nominated by the Partner Country Caucus; b) three (3) representatives of middle-income countries, whose nomination will be co-ordinated by Korea; c) representative of civil society organisations, to be nominated by civil society participants of the Working Party on Aid Effectiveness (WP-EFF); d) representative of the United Nations Development Group, on behalf of the UN system; e) and the representative of Korea.


http://www.brecorder.com/business-a-economy/single/672/189/1253425/