January 27, 2012
Posted: 12:30 PM UTC
by Alisa Herrero Cangas on January 27, 2012
The EU has a longstanding tradition of engaging in democracy promotion, using a wide range of strategies and instruments to support processes of democratic consolidation, including in difficult contexts. While some successes have been achieved, the task of building genuine democratic systems that go beyond formal structures and help to deliver development has proven very challenging – for both local democracy promoters and international partners. The need for “deepening democracy” has become a rallying cry in the last years. Growing attention is paid to the role of both the “political society’” (i.e. parliaments, political parties) ...
January 27, 2012
Posted: 10:53 AM UTC
by Bruce Byiers on January 27, 2012
Financing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) remains a major challenge. It is becoming clear that Official Development Assistance from donor countries will not be sufficient to fill the existing finance gap. A new OECD Working Paper zooms into domestic resource mobilisation – savings generated from domestic resources – as potential source of finance, and gives an updated estimate of the cost of meeting the MDGs. This article takes a closer looks at some details of the report. OECD’s research plays a valuable role in re-focusing minds towards the costs involved in meeting six of the MDGs ...
January 13, 2012
Posted: 12:44 PM UTC
by Faten Aggad on January 13, 2012
In response to the Arab Spring the European Commission has proposed to create a new European Neighbourhood Instrument, based on the European Union’s reviewed approach to cooperation with its neighbours in North Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. This new approach was set out in an EU Communication from May 2011 entitled “A new response to a changing Neighbourhood”, and is based on the following principles: “More for more” (“less for less” to be used only in extreme scenarios); Differentiation amongst countries receiving support; and Better coordination between different EU actors (European External Action ...
December 16, 2011
Posted: 14:36 PM UTC
by Jan Vanheukelom on December 16, 2011
Transparency is hot. Never before in debates about development or economic governance has there been such a strong focus on transparency. This has been well illustrated in the European Union (EU) over the past few months where the European Commission (EC) has taken action to promote transparency in three different arenas. One action related to private sector transparency. The European Commission proposed amendments to existing transparency requirements for companies in extractive industries. Stricter rules for mining, forestry and energy firms could improve governance in resource rich developing countries. Secondly, the EC’s new draft policy on ...
December 16, 2011
Posted: 14:23 PM UTC
by Bruce Byiers on December 16, 2011
This was the theme of a roundtable discussion held by the EIB earlier this month. With the ever-increasing interest in leveraging aid with loans, the issue of how to measure impact seems a pertinent question to ask. The discussion centered on how the EIB intends to measure and monitor the impact of their investment projects, as required under the renewed mandate for external EU financing given by the European Parliament and Council. But as the discussion progressed and they presented the broad categories of indicators they plan to use, one began to wonder what they have been using up to ...
December 9, 2011
Posted: 16:52 PM UTC
by Fernanda Faria on December 9, 2011
Last week, stakeholders involved in the International Dialogue on Peacebuilding and Statebuilding have presented and endorsed an agreement on a “New Deal for engagement in fragile states” at the Fourth High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan. Fernanda Faria analyses what’s new in the New Deal, its potential and some of the challenges to engage differently in fragile states. Fragile and conflict-affected countries are often rated among the poorest and least developed. International aid to these countries focuses on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and aid effectiveness, which do not address conflict, security and justice ...
November 8, 2011
Posted: 12:49 PM UTC
by ECDPM Challenges Team on November 8, 2011
ECDPM is currently reflecting on the content and orientation of the next issue of its annual Challenges Inbrief. This publication is published at the start of each year, and aims to identify key issues for policy making for EU-Africa relations in the year ahead. The paper, in traditional ECDPM style, aims to be informative and ‘facilitating’, helping readers identify key debates and moments in EU development cooperation and external action. The writing process provides us with an opportunity to take a step back from our day to day work to look forward and to reflect ...
October 21, 2011
Posted: 11:49 AM UTC
by Jan Vanheukelom on October 21, 2011
++ SERIES: ECDPM ANALYSIS OF NEW EU DEVELOPMENT POLICY REFORM PROPOSALS ++ EU Development Commissioner Piebalgs presented the EC’s Communication on budget support on October 13. This is amidst drastic changes in some of the EU member states’ attitudes and policies towards this aid modality. The Commission takes a strong position to improve budget support so it can deliver development results more effectively and efficiently. For different reasons this new budget support policy merits more attention. How to make aid more effective? Budget support as it evolved from the beginning of the new millennium tried ...
October 19, 2011
Posted: 17:27 PM UTC
by Bruce Byiers on October 19, 2011
Does the current financial crisis simply imply fiscal challenges across-the-board, or does it also present some development opportunities? ECDPM has prepared a Discussion Paper to examine the range of issues relating to taxation and development to feed into this area of the development agenda. The issue of domestic resource mobilisation has become the focus of increasing attention in developed and developing economies alike with the onset of the financial crisis. Only last week, the European Commission released its Communications on Development Policy and Budget Support both of which prominently featured the issue of the need ...
October 14, 2011
Posted: 15:09 PM UTC
by Niels Keijzer on October 14, 2011
++ SERIES: ECDPM ANALYSIS OF NEW EU DEVELOPMENT POLICY REFORM PROPOSALS ++ One year ago, the European Commission published a Green Paper titled ‘EU development policy in support of inclusive growth and sustainable development – Increasing the impact of EU development policy’. This Green Paper, the first promise of a major policy reorientation under the political leadership of Development Commissioner Piebalgs, provided a basis for a public consultation in which concerned stakeholders could share their own views on the future directions of EU development cooperation. ECDPM was one of over 230 organisations who responded to ...
