Donor countries continued their drive “to modernize the statistical system underpinning development cooperation,” as they put it in an official statement, during last week’s high-level meeting of the Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris, France.
Hailed as “historic,” the agreement that emerged from the meeting included a compromise to establish a grant equivalent calculation for concessional loans. The meeting also marked progress on two other high-profile initiatives. One is the creation of standards to measure private sector contributions to development. The other involves efforts to design a more expansive measurement for aid, known provisionally as Total Official Support for Sustainable Development. Donor countries also agreed to focus more resources on the least developed countries.
The most important deal was the pact on grant equivalents for concessional loans.
About the author
Bill Hinchbergerhinchberger
Bill Hinchberger is a global communications professional and educator. He studied at Berkeley and has taught at the Sorbonne. Based mostly in Paris, he spends quality time in Brazil and the United States, and works extensively in Africa and Latin America. He has served as an international correspondent for The Financial Times, Business Week, ARTnews, Variety, and others. One current focus of his work is content creation for foundations, NGOs and other organizations, especially those working on issues related to international affairs, the environment and development. He also runs training programs for professional journalists, notably in Africa, and is an associate of Rain Barrel Communications, a leading consultancy for social justice projects.
