This article was published in ECDPM’s Annual Report 2011. It seems fair to expect that 2011 will come to be seen as the year in which the contours of a new global consensus on development emerged. The traditional focus on aid alone was replaced by a more comprehensive view of international cooperation aimed at achieving solutions to national and global challenges. It was also the year that South-South cooperation arose as a potential standard for good practice in development cooperation. Above all, it was the year in which Africa, with the Tunis Consensus on Development ...
Few would question the importance of civil society’s role in the events of the Arab Spring, especially in Tunisia and Egypt. Non-state actors were a catalyst for change, particularly as they were vocal in calling for more democratic participation, for government accountability and for a legal framework ensuring the respect of human rights. However, now that transitions away from authoritarian rule have been set in motion (to different degrees), in many instances Arab civil society faces the difficult task to put forward a new, enduring, development agenda. This is all but an easy quest, and ...
“Getting more bang for the development Euro” is not usually how we talk about “enhancing aid effectiveness”, but this was the title of a session from a recent Friends of Europe roundtable. While involving the private sector more closely in development might therefore bring new jargon as well as additional finance, the discussion highlighted two other important issues: the high expectations that donors and the private sector have from one another, as well as the need for donors to manage potential failure and to improve their adaptability… Temper expectations Private sector representatives at the roundtable ...
Promoting private sector development in poor countries and engaging with firms for achieving development ends is very much in fashion. In development circles, round tables and events discussing public-private partnerships are springing up more and more. Recently, a participant at one of these asked, “How much of this is actually new?” But further, what would have to happen to make any new engagement with the private sector more widely acceptable and effective? The private sector has always had a key role in development through providing jobs and incomes. It has also “engaged” with governments through ...
Despite being hit by the current economic and financial crisis, Europe remains a strong advocate and keen supporter of deep regional integration, at home and abroad. In Africa, the arguments for fostering integration are manifold; from building larger markets that can attract Foreign Direct Investments, achieving economies of scale, enhancing competitiveness, to fundamental security considerations. Today there are a host of ambitious integration arrangements among African states, many of them overlapping in space and scope. However the track record is quite disappointing for a variety of reasons. What could the EU do to improve this ...
++ GUEST CONTRIBUTION ++ Mining is a driver of development but despite its capacity to create wealth and alleviate poverty, it can also be a potential source of finance for armed conflicts in certain high-risk and fragile areas. A number of multilateral initiatives are under way to address this issue and to reduce the risks. The World Gold Council is pioneering in developing a “conflict free gold standard”, and ECDPM will hold a consultation to gather inputs from various stakeholders before the World Gold Council finalises the standard. In a guest contribution Terry Heymann, Director, ...
Organisational charts in general can’t tell you much about what happens behind the scenes in a company or an institution. They don’t show who is in or out of favour, they don’t map influence and informal lines of communication dictating priorities. However, when looking at previous versions and updates, they help to understand how an organisation is evolving, or at least the formal thinking about how it should. Last week the EEAS published a new version of its organisational chart (dated 1st of May 2012), displaying its internal structure and stating the names of key ...
In response to the wave of change unfolding in its Southern Neighbourhood, the EU announced several initiatives reacting to the transitions in the region. While my colleagues Faten Aggad and Alisa Herrero Cangas already gave a broad overview of EU’s initiatives in the region, I now focus on one of them, the SPRING programme (Support to Partnership, Reform and Inclusive Growth), adopted in September 2011. It earmarked € 350 Million to sustain the momentum building up in the Arab world, seizing the opportunity to support democracy and market-oriented economic reforms in the region. The EU’s ...
This post was published in Spanish on the El Pais blog ’3500 Millones‘. Andrew Sherriff co-authored it. Despite repeated (re-)commitments to provide 0.7% of Europe’s collective Gross National Income as aid (i.e. Official Development Assistance), ODA budgets are going down across Europe, the cuts in Spain being an extreme example. Yet in this rapidly changing world the question arises whether ODA remains the most important thing for the poorest in developing countries. Is there anything else Europe should be doing more? Some see the decrease in aid as wilful neglect undermining European credibility given the ...
