The post-2015 development framework should be about aid instruments as much as about goals, says a new independent report supported by the European Commission and several European Union member states.
This means the mobilization of a broader set of instruments, including development cooperation, development finance and trade, the European Report on Development 2013 suggests.
Launched Tuesday (April 9), the ERD 2013 comes a month after the release of the European Commission’s proposal for a post-2015 development framework, which calls for addressing poverty alongside sustainability.
The report further urges collective international action to go “beyond MDGs” and “beyond aid” to achieve the end goal of poverty eradication in an inclusive and sustainable manner.
“I am pleased to see that the new ERD, which is particularly timely and relevant, in many ways complements and supports the work of the commission,” European Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs said during the ERD 2013 launch event. “This year’s report, with its in-depth analysis and ambitious messages, will help stimulate the debate on the post-2015 development agenda, both at the EU and global levels.”
ERD is an annual report aimed at stimulating debate and research on major topics on global development. The 2013 edition was prepared by experts from the Overseas Development Institute, the German Development Institute and the European Centre for Development Policy Management.
The analysis reaches three other key conclusions to help shape the debate on a post-2015 agenda:
A transformative agenda is vital, emphasizing the need for structural economic and social reforms, job creation, and reduced inequality.
National ownership is key, and the new framework should pay more attention to how global goals relate to national needs and targets.
Global collective action should be scaled up, through strengthened support, more aid, increased effectiveness and enhanced policy coherence — with all policies, not only development cooperation.
The report further argues for the importance of fostering an “enabling environment” in developing countries so they can more effectively pursue their development agenda. Concretely, this means assessing interrelated conditions that impact on the capacity of development practitioners to administer aid in a sustained and effective manner, including legal, organizational, financial, political and cultural matters.
Read more development aid news online, and subscribe to The Development Newswire to receive top international development headlines from the world’s leading donors, news sources and opinion leaders — emailed to you FREE every business day.