A sneak peek into OECD-DAC’s high-level meeting

Brian Atwood’s last high-level meeting as chair of the Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development kicks off Dec. 4 and tackles one of his main focus areas when he joined the organization — development finance.

Atwood will be joined by the incoming DAC Chair and former Norwegian Development and Environment Minister Erik Solheim, EU Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs and other leaders, in London, to discuss joint action and define future direction on three strategic issues.

Post-2015 development agenda

As the Millennium Development Goals approach their deadline, the international community is starting the long process of determining the post-2015 development agenda. Will the committee ratify the suggested shift from MDGs to sustainable development goals which are said to be more holistic?

With ongoing consultations in 50 countries for the post-2015 agenda, the DAC membership, during the meeting, aims to find ways to support the United Nations’ efforts in identifying the next framework and its contents, and adopt a joint statement from all participants, which will serve as a guideline for drafting the new set of MDGs.

Results of the December consultations will be released in January next year and will be discussed by the MDG high-level panel in May; the draft framework is expected from the United Nations by September 2013.

Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation

The Global Partnership was formed at last year’s high-level conference in Busan, South Korea, to ensure that development cooperation, and its stakeholders, are “more coherent, connected and effective.” One year later, the committee will review the progress of the commitments agreed in Busan and discuss ways to further contribute to advance said undertaking.

Oxfam, among others, has also evaluated the first year of the partnership and outlined some government reforms the United States has implemented.

External development finance

The DAC will also analyze the possible components of a financial framework for the assessment of effective and efficient use of resources — a strategy warranted by the unfolding of a new global development agenda.

Among specific topics for discussion are the inclusion of private sector contribution, market-based financial instruments, and those of non-DAC development partners; the strategic role of official development assistance and how it can be combined with, and catalyze, other resources; and other innovative sources of development assistance.

The high-level meeting also marks the launch of the Development Cooperation Report 2012: Lessons in Linking Sustainability and Development which looks at the efforts of the development community to tie sustainability and development together.

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