There is no more urgent issue in development cooperation than the question of aid: does it go to the right places, how effectively is it spent, and who is accountable for it - and to whom? The 2010 Development Cooperation Forum (DCF) that took place in New York on 29-30 June as part of the proceedings of the UN Economic and Social Council (ministerial level) highlighted the urgent need to reform the aid architecture both nationally and internationally. It also made it clear that parliaments must be at the core of such reforms: in both donor and recipient countries, parliaments are generally unable or unwilling to demand full accountability of aid.
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Drawing from a preliminary survey of some seventy countries, the DCF concluded that mutual accountability – the relationship in which donor and recipient countries hold each other accountable for their respective aid effectiveness commitments – is also very weak. Donors are more accountable to their home governments than to the recipient governments, even though they are often all too quick to attach cumbersome conditions to the aid given. Conversely, recipient governments are less able to demand that donors work through country systems, provide more aid on budget, or make aid information easily accessible to the public.
The DCF is emerging as the UN’s most visible and inclusive entity for development cooperation. Like no other UN process, it was designed to incorporate the views of stakeholders like parliamentarians, civil society representatives, private foundations, and local authorities in a dialogue with government officials (from both North and South), donors and a whole assortment of development practitioners.
The IPU has played a significant role in organizing the parliamentary component of the DCF. Some 20 MPs participated in the various steps of the preparatory process that consisted of two symposia (Vienna and Helsinki) and the actual session of the DCF in New York. The IPU is contributing overall guidance to the DCF as part of an Advisory Group. The Secretary General, Mr. Anders Johnsson, moderated one of the policy dialogues of the DCF session. Going forward, and with the next DCF in 2012 already on the horizon, the IPU will deepen its engagement in development cooperation with the establishment of a larger and more permanent group of MPs to provide expert advice and overall guidance. Documents, including the results of the mutual accountability survey, are available online.
