December 7, 2007
The Paris Declaration is the most recent framework for international cooperation agreed by the donor community at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) level. It was adopted by Development Assistance Committee members who attended a High Level Forum in Paris in 2005 and its implementation is linked to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.
Last week, AWID launched a new primer series entitled "Aid Effectiveness and Women's Rights". The aim of the series is to share critical information and analysis with women's rights advocates about the new aid architecture that has emerged as a result of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (pdf) —the most recent donor-recipient countries agreement designed to increase the impact of aid.
What is the Aid Effectiveness Agenda?
The aid effectiveness agenda born out of the PD currently determines how and to whom aid is being delivered as well as how donor and recipient countries relate to one another. Aid distribution is clearly not simply a mechanistic process, but rather a political one.
Adopted in March 2005 at a High-Level Forum (HLF2) organized by the Development Assistance Committee (OECD DAC) of the Organization for Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the PD is now being adhered to by approximately 25 donor countries, 80 recipient countries and around 25 multilateral institutions.
In September 2008 donor countries and recipient countries will meet for a High Level Forum (HLF3) in Accra, Ghana to assess progress in the implementation of the PD, and to agree a new 'agenda for action'. This will be the first opportunity for donor and recipient countries, and civil society organizations, to review the progress on the implementation of the PD.
Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) are calling for a number of reforms and deepening of the aid effectiveness based on a number of general concerns including:
• The new aid architecture needs to be more comprehensive of all development stakeholders—particularly CSOs, including women's organizations and movements.
• There is too much focus on aid modalities. The emphasis is too centered on the "plumbing" or mechanisms of the aid delivery system, not enough on reducing poverty and inequality as expressed in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and other international commitments.
• Evaluating aid's effectiveness needs to be integrally linked to support for human rights, democratic governance, environmental sustainability and gender equality.
• There needs to be more clarity on the implementation of the PD principles. An in-depth discussion of the meaning and impacts of the PD principles needs to take place, including inputs from CSOs, particularly about the principles of ownership, alignment and accountability.
• There are currently limitations in the monitoring commitments. Monitoring of the PD commitments is currently based on World Bank data and indicators. In the lead up to Ghana, the process must be fully transparent and inclusive of civil society and women's rights organizations.
Why should women's rights activists care about the Aid Effectiveness Agenda?
• The Paris Declaration is gender-blind. Within this document, no measures to promote women's rights, gender equality or human rights standards are proposed or acknowledged through impact assessments or any other measures.
• Women's rights and gender equality are often not reflected in national development plans. The new aid architecture is designed to align aid to nationally determined development priorities, and therefore, it is very important to integrate women's rights and gender equality perspectives in participatory processes for defining and monitoring national development plans. Democratic ownership will only be possible if all actors are integrated into the national strategic definitions.
• Government actions alone will not reduce poverty – adversely affecting women. The PD's aid effectiveness agenda focuses on institutional reforms in government for a more effective and efficient aid system, instead of on conditions for effective and sustainable development and for democratizing the international cooperation processes.
• It is vital to preserve the strategic roles that CSOs play for women. Women's rights organizations and other civil society organizations have little space to influence the PD implementation process. Their contributions and roles as key development actors are essential for creating a climate of social, political, and economic change and reducing poverty and gender inequality.
• The PD is another effort to agree on international targets and indicators (like the MDGs) for aid effectiveness. The PD agenda was defined by donors (at the OECD) and the aid effectiveness process is being monitored by indicators developed by the World Bank. Where are the voices and contributions of women's organizations and other CSOs in this context? Why should international development priorities be agreed at the OECD instead of at a multilateral/multi-stakeholders' forum such as the UN?
• At the High Level Forum (HLF3) to evaluate the PD implementation taking place in Accra, Ghana, in September 2008, women's organizations and CSOs in general should push to influence the agenda of this official Forum, so that key issues concerning civil society, women's rights, and gender equality are taken into account in the discussions and the final statement.
• There is a CSOs parallel process to the HLF3. A CSOs forum is set take place right before the HLF3 and women's organizations need to be present in this critical space to contribute to an alternative vision of development from a civil society perspective.
• If women's rights advocates don't push for gender equality and women's rights to be understood as development priorities, nobody will. It is vital to ensure women's voices, proposals and participation are infused throughout the whole process.
AWID hopes that the facts and issues discussed within these primers will encourage women's rights advocates and civil society organizations to join in the process of calling for a more comprehensive, balanced, and inclusive approach to reforming aid so that it reaches the people who need it most, including women!
The series includes the following five primers (pdf format):
-->> Primer 1: An Overview of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness & the New Aid Modalities
-->> Primer 2: Key Official Bodies Related to the Implementation of the Paris Declaration
-->> Primer 3: Civil Society’s Engagement in the Aid Effectiveness Agenda: The Parallel Process, Key Concerns and Recommendations
-->> Primer 4: Monitoring and Evaluation of the Paris Declaration Implementation
The Association for Women's Rights in Development - AWID
