The third high level forum (HLF-3) convened in Ghana this week to discuss aid effectiveness. Aid agencies that attended the forum said donors have not made enough progress since the 2005 Paris Declaration in dealing with long-time problems related to aid effectiveness. During the forum, Ghanaian president, John Kufuor, called on developing and developed countries to deploy and manage development assistance so that poor countries can cease being aid dependent. He further urged stakeholders to come up with ‘ambitious resolutions, to minimise existing impediments to aid effectiveness in recipient countries’.
Civil society organisations note that ‘with all the attention given to High Level Forums on aid effectiveness, it is easy to lose sight of the simple fact that after all aid effectiveness is not about the effectiveness with which aid is delivered, managed, aligned or harmonised such as how much comes through budget support versus project funding; but the positive impact it makes on the lives of the people at the grassroots such as those of Accra’s Sodom and Gomorrah and South Africa’s Free State which at best remains subtle’. In addition, participants of the HLF-3 discussed the aid effectiveness in situations of fragile and conflict states, suggesting that donors, in order to have greater risk-bearing capacity, should channel funds through the budgets of recipient countries.
The Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) met between June 24-25 in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, ahead of the Executive Council (EC) that was to take major decisions ‘to breath fresh life into several organs of the continental body, and remove doubts over its efficiency’. According to the PRC Chairman, Tanzanian Ambassador Mohamed Maundi, the PRC meeting accepted 19 recommendations on the Audit reported, rejected 22 recommendations and referred 52 of them to the AU Commission. The President of the AU Commission, Jean Ping, expressing himself at the opening of the Assembly of heads of state and government, outlined major reforms he intends to undertake to improve his institution. He mentioned the importance of taking into consideration the recommendations suggested in the AU Audit report and giving priority to the values of competence, experience, efficiency and justice, as well as devotion to the AU.
The Peace and Security Council (PSC) presented their report on the security situation in Africa to the Assembly. Within the report were mixed findings on the progress of peace and security on the continent: countries like Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Central African Republic and Comoros showing improvements and, yet, new tensions arising in countries such Sudan, Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo, with ‘persistent deadlock’ being recorded between Ethiopia and Eritrea. ‘On Kenya, the report said the post-election crisis in the country was overcome with the signing, on 28 February, of the national accord and the reconciliation law.’
by African-Union » Sat May 16, 2009 3:46 pm