Archive for September, 2008

UN and the MDGs - food crisis and credit crisis vie for attention in NY

September 24, 2008

By Emer Mullins, Trócaire

Day one

There’s a great buzz in New York any time but this week it’s very noticeable around the UN building on 44th Street at 1st Avenue, as the world’s leaders gather for the annual general assembly and the midway review of the Millennium Development Goals, a series of eight targets designed to significantly reduce poverty and disease by 2015.

Among those attending this year are Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, US President George Bush, former President Bill Clinton, former Irish President Mary Robinson and of course our new Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Michael Martin and Minister of State for Overseas Development, Peter Power. US Vice Presidential candidate for the Republican party, Sarah Palin, is also rumoured to be making an appearance. Security is very tight, and armed police line the streets around the building.

Also planned for this week in New York is the launch of the Irish government’s Hunger Task Force report, which will take place on Thursday morning in the UN.

Today, Monday, was kicked off by a high level meeting on Africa’s development needs. The main topic of discussion was food: the food crisis, food sovereignty, where countries could themselves produce all the food required without having to rely on imports, and the cost of food and oil. Trócaire had observer status at the meeting, where the head of the African Union, the president of Tanzania, spoke of how many countries had not kept their previous commitments when it came to resources. There were renewed calls for the billions of dollars required to meet Africa’s development needs.

NGOs were at a side event on the response to the world food crisis attended by the President of Malawi, Bingu Wa Mutharika and Professor Jeffrey Sachs of Colombia University (and the author of The End of Poverty) among others.

Later there was an interesting event at the UN Church Centre led by Caritas Internationalis, the confederation of Catholic development agencies, of which Trócaire is a member. The gathering included the head of the UN’s Millennium Campaign and a number of government and religious leaders who saw a very strong dramatisation based on the MDGs and how people tend to measure them by statistics, incremental improvements or declines, rather than really seeing and hearing the actual people in the developing world behind the numbers. The event was a recommitment from NGOs to making sure that these goals - minimal as they are - are reached by the deadline of 2015.

Meanwhile, Minister for Overseas Development Peter Power is visiting Ireland’s famine memorial in New York today. Another manmade food crisis, if you will.

New York media are talking about yet another crisis - the financial crisis on Wall Street which saw two more major investment banks morph into commercial banks yesterday. Commentators on main news channels last night were talking about a return to the days of the Great Depression after the Wall Street crash in the 1920s. The price of oil hit a new one-day high and the government’s financial rescue plan is being hotly debated between Republicans and Democrats.

Events at the UN are unfolding against this backdrop of local politics which suggests that the attention of the politicians is clearly focused on the local rather than the international. But today comes a large event on the MDGs by the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP). So everybody’s talking about the Goals but the question remains: what will the rest of the week bring in terms of new commitments to their achievement? Stay tuned.

Day two

As the government prepares to launch its Hunger Task Force report tomorrow in New York, we had the opportunity yesterday to visit the Irish Hunger Memorial in Battery Park in the city. Located on a half acre site of prime Manhattan real estate, the memorial at first glance is not very prepossessing. I had heard of it but never seen any photos.

I suppose I expected something evocative like the famine sculptures in Mayo and even in Dublin, but this seemed to be a little field with overgrown stone walls, the remnants of a typical Irish cottage.

On closer inspection though there were stones in the ground inscribed with the names of each county, and writings around the base of the memorial outlining some of the horrific statistics from the famine days as well as the generosity of those who gave, including the American Indians and prisoners from Sing Sing jail. The Malthusian principles of population control from Thomas Malthus all those years ago explained that Ireland was settled by too many people and the eradication of a significant number was warranted.

The famine, or now known as the great hunger, was political in nature, caused primarily by the policies of the British government at the time. Hunger in the world today is also political, caused by government policies or lack thereof. It seemed to me as we stood at the base of the memorial that this week is a real opportunity for governments to acknowledge that hunger is their responsibility and to state clearly how they will fund its eradication.

But the economic crunch here in the city is dominating the news shows, and despite the security lock down imposed around the UN because of the unpopularity of some of the visiting heads of state, including Iran’s, there is very little news coverage so far of the UN events.

Wall Street, the great bastion of capitalism, dominates. The numbers being discussed for the government bail out of banks are so large that people can’t even grasp the implications yet. Republicans and Democrats are squabbling over the proposed plan, which has to be signed off by Friday.

Meanwhile, there’s an event at the UN Church Centre today discussing women and poverty in New York. Poverty levels will be greatly increased once the cost of the rescue plan trickles down. And the US government is expected to recommit to its achievement of the MDGs later this week, as is Ireland. Tomorrow will reveal all!

 

Day three

Nancy Aburi, a member of the Irish government’s hunger task force from Kenya, said if we are to positively affect development in Africa we should concentrate on women’s empowerment and education. The women of Africa, she said, will help build communities and develop the continent.

We were speaking after Taoiseach Brian Cowen launched the Hunger Task Force report in New York at the UN. The Task Force was set up last year to look at ways in which Ireland could have an impact on the fight against hunger.

The launch was attended by members of the Task Force, such as Nancy, and Sheila Sisulu, from the World Food Programme, another African woman. She was supposed to lend a little gender equality to the dais, but an accident saw her breaking her leg and her wheelchair could not be accommodated at the top table. That left Task Force Chair Joe Walsh, former minister for agriculture, Bono, Ban Ki-Moon, secretary general of the UN, Jeffrey Sachs of Colombia University, Taoiseach Brian Cowen, Minister for Foreign Affairs Michael Martin and Minister of State for Overseas Development Peter Power seated at the top of the ECOSOC chamber.

In the chamber itself, Britain, Norway, Sweden and Australia were some of the countries represented. However, African leaders were also conspicuous by their absence, Nancy pointed out.

The photographers were delighted when Bob Geldof and Bono appeared in time for a few private words with the Irish politicians before the event kicked off. Launching the event, Chairman Joe Walsh said that hunger epitomised the most gross consequences of sustained injustice and that the only tolerable approach to it must be to pursue its early global elimination as a goal of unparalleled importance.

He spoke of the three key recommendations in the report, the focus on agriculture, the need to focus on nutrition and the need for governance to ensure that all governments are held to account to follow through on their commitments.

Economist Jeffrey Sachs mentioned Ireland’s commitment to spending 0.7 per cent of GDP on aid by 2012, and the Taoiseach’s speech reaffirmed Ireland’s commitment to the MDGs and the target date of 2015.

He said the government would reflect on the report’s findings and determine how best to move forward. “Hunger is our greatest challenge,” he said.

“It is nothing short of scandalous that there are over 860 million hungry people in the world today. We do not need to make further pledges if we just deliver on what we have already promised. The commitments and the know-how are already there. It is the political will and action that will make the difference in the fight against hunger.”

Bono, also a task force member, offered some musings on the psychological scars left by the Irish famine, and remarked that it was not the result of crop failure and bad luck, but bad management by those in power who were exporting food at the same time. He said that while it’s fashionable in some quarters to dismiss aid, it does work. Ireland had benefited from EU aid, he added.

With the right policies and interventions we can make a difference for people on the ground, he said. He thanked Bob Geldof for being there - and for shaving and putting on a suit for the occasion.

When the official event was over, Irish media and photographers swarmed all over Bono, seeking his opinion on the US presidential election candidate for the vice-presidency, Sarah Palin, whom he was supposed to meet yesterday. He was dodging the questions, moaned one, wouldn’t be drawn on what he thought of her.

Sometimes the person becomes bigger than the issue, but Bono was on message today.

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UN and the MDGs - a time for action

September 23, 2008

By Joseph C Donnelly
Head of Caritas Internationalis’ delegation at the UN

Joseph C Donnelly

Monday morning around the United Nations headquarters unfolded quietly, at least more so than usual.

The “Frozen Zone” perimeter around Midtown’s trendy Eastside Turtle Bay meant that the global village around the UN was locked in with preventive security which greatly restricted traffic.

It’s an annual occurrence. Army helicopters fly overhead, sharp shooters hover around rooftops and UN issued ID badges are a top commodity.

The primary business of the day found Member States rallied around a special General Assembly Meeting at UN headquarters to assess the state of development in Africa.
 
Looking into the hard facts and reality checks this means the food and fuel crises, hunger and nutrition, HIV-AIDS treatment and prevention, climate change, water and sanitation.

On the margins of these intense thematic and humanitarian debates vital diplomatic discourse looks into conflict prevention, conflict resolution, security and democracy. It’s a full house with a very full agenda.

These days set the tone for the General Assembly agenda for the next year. Wisdom and patience are as critical to real progress as the political will to assume responsibility and do good. The Millennium Development Goals are a pivotal part of the great debate - things achieved, lives saved, lives lost, promises not kept, goals missed.

In this charged atmosphere - faith based organizations, regional and international networks, along with NGOs from all over the world, fill in every possible space where civil society can speak truth to power. These voices echo out from profound grassroots, from investments and commitments to accompany the poor. These voices have also gathered in New York this week around these exact same urgent concerns on every continent. They demand responsible government action now.

The MDGs have reached their midpoint, years after historic pledges were made before all the world at the UN’s Millennium Summit as the new century unfolded. It has unfolded to reveal the skill, power and resources necessary to alleviate poverty and hunger, in our time.

Monday evening saw gatherings of all kinds around Manhattan. As one taxi driver said: “They’re here. They’re all here. Here we go again. Maybe they’ll do something this time!”  More than a year ago the UK Prime Minister drew attention to the state of the MDGs, highlighting growing anxiety that the goals were too far off to be met and too disconnected from communities in  need around the world.

In the “Frozen Zone” a network of civil society organizations hosted an International Interfaith Manifestation, a special event, to draw others into a discussion on what the MDGs were intended to accomplish. It was a moment to consider these tools, to see the real needs of real human beings on every continent and in every possible context of society. The MDG-NGO convening group, led by Caritas Internationalis, sent hundreds of invitations to heads of state, UN Missions, diplomats, non-governmental organizations, economists, academics and international religious leaders and others.

At the UN Church Center, home to dozens of NGOs, a standing room only event unfolded at sunset Monday to the beat of African drums.

The fresh energy of the performers offered stakeholders from all sectors the space to ask the hard questions. Hearing the Call to Action demands a planned and committed response from governments and civil society alike. It isn’t possible to pursue peace and security while hunger grows, while national resources are exploited, lands and are lives damaged. Diplomatic leaders unabashedly exclaimed: “Without NGOs very little is achieved, yet they receive so little support or openness from too many governments.” One international expert admitted: “Most of the NGOs here were working on the MDGs long before I even knew what they were.”

The Call to Action is pressuring all parties to engage right here! right now! This is the place and now is the time. MDGs: Partners for Justice. Every day lives are lost needlessly.

Let’s face it together to end the incredible scandal of sustained poverty and the exploitation of natural resources.

Day two

After the intensity of African issues and development concerns on Monday, heads of state from France, Iran and USA were just three of the countries to take the UN General Assembly podium today to give their own views of the challenges we face.

They are three of the 192 countries who are members. Many people wonder who will be the 193rd, a healthy sign of nation building decades after the UN was established.

Amid the broad history and global rhetoric, there are the lives of at least one billion people. They are dubbed “the bottom billion” by journalists and humanitarian experts.

They are those without food. Those without means. Those destined to die if the world does not to notice the misery of living on less than a dollar a day. Those whose stories too often go untold, whose voices are silenced or ignored.

Not so today. In the UN Church Centre, people from around the globe met to further focus on human rights. From religious leaders to former heads of state, from doctors to social workers, boat makers to scholars, brave ones came to give voice, their own voices, to witness boldly the violations of their community’s human rights.

There is a new advocacy tool to help. The Millennium Development Goals and Human Rights has been produced by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human rights and the Millennium Campaign. It coincides with the 60th anniversary year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That’s the meaning. This is the moment. Dignity and justice for all of us.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, gets the message loud and clear. He said, “Passing the midpoint to the 2015 deadline for the Millennium Development Goals, we face a development emergency. Millions of people are still trapped in structural poverty and go hungry everyday. As we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, let us remember that development should not be a privilege of the few but a right for all.”

What good is development without community survival. What good is nation building without development. What is good governance without protection of the environment and natural resources.

There is cynicism in some circles. Issues travel up, down, around the roundtables, square tables and the Security Council’s famous u-shaped table. Everything has its well-ordered place even if the world order is far from just.

On the 25th, there will be 24 hours of talks around the Millennium Development Goals at the UN. Another 24 hours to stand up, give voice to precisely what we know about eradicating poverty, restoring human dignity, sustaining fragile environments.

“Can the gains of development really be sustained if rights are not anchored in laws and institutions, and if duty-bearers are not held accountable for their efforts - and outcomes?” This is according to the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Maybe our best “lessons learned” come as ever from walking in the shoes of the other… Maybe we need to walk differently to see differently and to act responsibly.

Day three

We say every voice counts; we’ve been saying this for years, decades, forever.

We say all are created equal, but we recognize all do not live with equality. The tension of realities around the UN this week have taken up much space, but still far from enough, far from where they need to break through status quo.

The UN General Assembly Call to Action has altered the annual opening space at the UN. The leading governments have changed the stakes of partnership. We can’t continue to pretend things are getting substantially better. “The bottom billion” know it; we know it - and more are getting to know it.

Globalization brings both blessings and burdens. Hi-tech communications have brought unprecedented access to information, information bursting with exacting details, images, facts, faces and more.

As the UN Secretary-General noted on Wednesday to leaders from all sectors:

“We know it! We know it! We all know it - as I know it…We know the problems. We know the opportunities. We need to act now - together.”

We don’t need more words, we don’t need more summits to identify roadmaps. Looking at the Millennium Development Goals, are we 30 percent closer to achieving them, 50 percent, 10 percent?

This is part of the urgent conversation this week in New York and everywhere. More funds are needed; more understanding of the possibilities is needed. The MDG gaps are there; the gaps are known, reviewed, they demand a response.

There’s a UN report to read which invites every stakeholder to act on it all. There’s a UNDP report on the MDGs-2008; excellent information & challenge.

There are other reports - from every corner of the continents. For example,  Caritas Internationalis regularly releases reports from members in 162 countries, highlighting lessons learned across the globe.

When the food crisis, the fuel crisis or the economic crisis preoccupies every new outlet around the world we should ask immediately - why is this a surprise to anyone?

But where are the stories today about devastated communities, villages, suffering with environmental pollution, still recovering slowly from the Tsunami? Who will write about the estimated 4 million nurses needed globally? Will anyone write about the need for 80 million teachers?

That’s the conversation echoing all over the streets of Midtown Manhattan this week – the same streets where public demonstrations about Iraq, Iran, Myanmar, Colombia, Sri Lanka, USA, Pakistan and more take place.

All this in that high security “Frozen Zone” which limits access to most people. The problems/solutions remain matters of access - access to the leaders, access to the resources, access to the decisions.

Current levels of human isolation have greatly enlarged the gaps, distances. Meanwhile, we know some partnerships are flourishing, some governments are thinking outside the box, inviting shared investments.

Some governments are absolutely convinced that faith-based organizations hold unprecedented records of profound commitments to people day by day.

This week at the UN this is the moment: Act Now! Be responsible! Act now together to accomplish more and implement existing commitments! While UN protocols take exception to the impassioned use of exclamation marks, the noise is getting heard, like it or not, as reasonable leaders face facts.

A former UN Secretary-General once said: “You must remind governments of what they know. You must disturb them, reminding them that you know what they know. You know what they have seen in your communities, in your programs, in the best of times and very worst of times. Never let them forget. Honest ones will respect you for that, even if it adds to their burdens.”

NGOs are the window to reality. With looming consequences from a year of traumatic global crises, it would be grossly irresponsible to continue with business as usual.

A broken world expects our global response. Will we walk a mile, a step, a moment in the shoes, strapped sandals, sneakers, bare feet of our neighbors?

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Indian Flood

September 10, 2008

By Stalin S, Caritas India

Changed childhood in a day: Children in distress in flood affected Bihar

Women and children who have been driven from their homes by the floodwaters gather at a makeshift camp. Credit: Francois Poidatz/CRS

“My parents are still in the village which is fully marooned by water and I have the responsibility of looking after my brother and sister. I have to provide food and protect them from any further danger”, said Munna (6 years) while his sister Shilu (5 years) was busy in eating biscuits that Munna had collected from the relief camp and Bhola (3 years) was asleep.

At the moment they are taking refuge in one relief camp in Madhepura. Their parents are still living inside the village as they don’t want to leave their house in the fear of losing whatever they could save from the flood.

Munna is worried about the health of Bhola, his younger brother. He made a bamboo platform for his siblings. He struggles everyday to gather some food items for all. Getting food is not a very easy task for him. He stands in the queue for a long time and visits nearby areas where some food items are being distributed.

It is not a unique story that has happened to Munna, Shilu and Bhola. The floods of Bihar have made many children come closer to as families. They have grown concerned and responsible towards their siblings and others.

These children are desperately moving from one camp to another in search of food and medical support. There are cases, where they have been denied support as they don’t have the capacity to stand in long queue and sometimes they are ignored because they are children.

Children are the first to suffer. And it is very deplorable to see that many are left orphans. They have no one to take care of them. They are suffering from fever, diarrhea and eye infections.

Caritas will be providing food and medical care to the most vulnerable, especially the children.

River Kosi: Shedding of tears

Francois Poidatz/CRS)

Jamuna Prasad, in front of a temporary shelter at Chakla, Madhepura. Credit: Caritas India

Annual floods in Bihar has become a regular event. The torment it enfolds, hardly makes any difference in the lives of the people living close to the rivers. They are living with it. They are ready to suffer and keep suffering.

But nature had something in store for Bihar. With a breach in the Kosi River, life became worse for many, especially those who had very little experience of floods in their areas.

While passing through a relief camp, it was painful to see the conditions in which families are putting up with. People desperate for relief materials, sitting for hours, in queues for food, the innocence in the faces of many children, especially those who have no clue about where is their family. The damage is done and life now will grow more difficult.

“Now I am 63 year old this is the first time I am going through this kind of a situation when I see the people especially children the way they fight here for some food and cry in hunger I feel like crying.” says Jamuna Prasad, who lives in the temporary shelter at Chakla, Madhepura.

“We don’t have food or drinking water, no cloths to change and no place to sleep but still we are living” he added.

The agony we see in the faces of the affected, expresses deprivation and solitude.

The relief measures provided to these people are not adequate to meet their needs. There are many who are marooned and untouched. Many who are still traumatized and shocked.

Efforts are being taken to bring people back to normalcy, yet the attempt seems to be very little, as the pain is intense and profound. There is anxiousness and worry in the eyes of many. With no shelter, food and clothing, life has indeed become a living exile.

The river Kosi could not contain itself and shed its tears into Bihar. It will now take its own time to dry these tears.

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A Letter from Monsignor Yves Marie Péan, csc Bishop of Gonaives

September 9, 2008

September 5, 2008

With God’s people and especially with the faithful of the Diocese of Gonaives,

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

It is with much sorrow that I address to you this message in these sad moments of our history. For one week, the entire country, from Jérémie to Jacmel, from Hinche to Port de Paix, from Port au Prince to Cap Haitien, faces this natural disaster without precedent.

Particularly the city of Gonaives is under water as in 2004 after the terrible passage of the tropical storm Jeanne which had left three thousand (3,000) dead among us. We are today once again confronted with apocalyptical problems after the passage of the Hurricanes Gustave and Hanna. Further, in the next days two (2) other hurricanes menace our people.

During the course of these hurricanes we have suffered many losses.The Cathedral, many schools, numerous churches and presbyters were damaged.

For four (4) days many Gonaivian families have been blocked in their houses without water or electricity. At the Bishop’s House we are accommodating more than five hundred (500) people including members ofthe clergy and their families. I your servant am suffering with these victims while trying my best to provide them assistance during thesetimes of bad weather which has affected all of Artibonite. For the present moment we have an urgent need for: drinkable water, food,clothes, beds, batteries, covers, bath towels, chlorine, mosquito nets, medicines, etc….

Already many people have succumbed in different regions of the country. Many more will die if we can’t get them the immediate support they require.

Thus in this terrible circumstance I am willing to address this message to you, God’s people, to help us deal with these many victims and the continued efforts of Caritas and CRS/Haiti to help with this chaotic situation. We seek, on behalf of the Haitian and Universal Church, to spread the Gospel of love, through actions with your support

God’s people, I exhort you to remain united in prayer so that God guides us through the way towards a new beginning.

Sincerely yours in Christ

Monsignor Yves Marie Péan, c.s.c.

Bishop of Gonaïves

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Accra Summit Blog Entries

September 2, 2008

By Blandine Bouniol, Caritas Internationalis Policy Analyst


Part 1: Accra aid assignment
30 August 2008

Caritas Internationalis is part a large ecumenical alliance bringing together African Churches and international faith-based organisations, including SECAM, AACC, CIDSE, APRODEV and ACT Development, representing millions of Christians in Africa and around the world, for the purpose of voicing our common concerns on aid effectiveness.

After months of intensive and long-distance joint planning and coordination work, the time had finally come to meet!

More than 50 delegates from organisations members of the ecumenical alliance made their way to Accra, to participate in the parallel forum for Civil Society Organisations on aid effectiveness on 31 August and 1 September.

The CSO parallel forum precedes the official high level forum on aid effectiveness. There hundreds of senior representatives from northern and southern governments and heads of international cooperation agencies, 80 representatives of civil society organisations, including four from our ecumenical alliance, will design a two-year roadmap to advance aid effectiveness, taking account of the relatively slow progress of the implementation of the Paris Declaration on aid effectiveness, adopted in 2005.

Ahead of the CSO parallel forum, SECAM hosted an ecumenical preparatory meeting for all the ecumenical delegates present in Accra. More than 30 ecumenical representatives coming from more than 15 countries from Africa and Europe reiterated their endorsement of the African Churches’ joint ecumenical statement on aid effectiveness adopted by AACC and SECAM in May.

The ecumenical alliance is pushing for governments to provide space and mechanisms for a meaningful engagement of all development stakeholders, including the Churches, into the development processes at country and international levels. Without access to information, civil society is not able to engage and hold to account governments, hence our plea for greater transparency and inclusive national frameworks for accountability.

These were the messages that Bishop Dandala, Secretary General of AACC, and Simson Mwale, Programme Officer of SECAM, delivered at the Ghana TV.

During the dinner given in the SECAM office garden, the ecumenical delegates could enjoy traditional music and dances from Ghana. A good start for what promises to be an intense week of dialogue!
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Part 2: We’ll always have Paris
30 August 2008

When it comes to aid effectiveness, Civil Society Organisations or CSOs are not only critical of governments and development agencies. CSOs are actors of development themselves and recognize that effectiveness, accountability, transparency, impact also apply to them too.

However, the Paris Declaration on aid effectiveness can’t be endorsed by CSOs, because some of its principles that are very relevant to donor-government relations would greatly endanger the autonomy and independence of CSOs.

This is why a new process was launched last summer on finding a consensus on development effectiveness, a concept broader than aid effectiveness. It could apply to CSOs and other stakeholders. Caritas Internationalis is actively involved in this process, as one of the 25 members composing the Global Facilitation Group (GFG).

The GFG met for the first time in Accra on 30 August and agreed a roadmap for what will be an extensive process of consultations at grass-root level on CSO effectiveness. The GFG will design an outreach strategy to engage CSOs at national and local levels, and facilitate a political dialogue with governments and donors on the matters of development effectiveness.
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Part 3: On parallel lines
31 August 2008

More than 6000 organisations from across the world participated in the consultation process in the run-up to the Third High Level Forum (HLF3) on Aid Effectiveness in Accra.

This two-day Civil Society Organisation (CSOs) Parallel Forum on aid effectiveness aimed to prepare the civil society’s message and demands to the High-Level Forum.

The Forum prepared a joint CSO statement that will be conveyed at the ministerial meeting during the high level forum. With their statement and their concrete proposals for amendments, CSO delegates hope to influence the Accra Agenda for Action (AAA) that will be adopted by donors and partners countries as an outcome of the meeting.

The statement said that CSOs: “Call on officials present in Accra to respond with urgency. What we need in Accra are clear time-bound commitments to deliver real results for people on the ground, towards the eradication of poverty, inequality and social exclusion. This is a political not a technical challenge, and should be treated as such.”

The draft version of the Accra Agenda for Action as it stands today remains weak and lacks ambition.

Rene Grotenhuis of Cordaid, representing Caritas Internationalis at the High Level Forum, said “it would be better to have no Accra Agenda for Action, than an AAA with low standards that would discourage or possibly impede groups of donors and partner countries ready to take more ambitious targets for themselves”.

Caritas Internationalis would like to see stronger language in the AAA referring to multi-stakeholders accountability systems, in which CSOs will be meaningfully involved.

We are also advocating for the recognition of the need to disclose information relating to aid flows regularly and systematically to citizens.

To avoid dependence on aid, we are advocating for a broader agenda on development effectiveness, that will create links between effective aid and just trade, debt cancellation, financing for development, gender equality, environment sustainability, respect for human rights.

This is what, in Caritas, we call the integral human development.

Members of the ecumenical alliance put our specific proposals to Jan Cedergran, Chair of the OECD Working Party on Aid Effectiveness, representatives of the European Commission, and of the French Delegation/EU Presidency at side meetings.

Justin Kilcullen, from Trocaire (Caritas Ireland) representing CONCORD, the European NGO confederation for relief and development was also invited as the sole representative of civil society at the reception hosted by the EU Presidency at the French embassy, gathering all European delegations at the High Level Forum.
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Part 4: A flavour of goings on
31 August 2008

The CSO Parallel Forum was a chance for all participants coming from all over the world to share their views and experiences on topics relating to aid effectiveness.

From the ecumenical alliance, Gwen Berge of Norwegian Church Aid representing ACT Development shared a workshop focusing on harmonization, one of the principles in the Paris Declaration. Peter Lanzet of EED, part of the ecumenical alliance, provided inputs with insights from Germany.

Direct budget support is often highlighted as a possible response to the lack of ownership and harmonization at country level. Participants provided diverse opinions regarding the benefits of direct budget support regarding democracy and CSO engagement. Indeed, with more funds directly channelled directly through national budget, there may be fewer funds available for local CSOs, especially in context where the relations between the government and CSOs are difficult.

A participant also pointed that harmonization should be first and foremost with international standards and these international treaties and conventions, including human rights conventions, that donors and governments have signed.

Rene Grotenhuis of Cordaid, representing Caritas Internationalis and CIDSE, chaired a workshop on mutual accountability. He opened the session by saying that “people are not object, but subject and bearer of development”.

Mwansa Njelesami from EJN South Africa, a member of the ecumenical alliance, stressed that the Paris Declaration does not recognize the power imbalances between donors and partner governments, which has created a situation of upwards accountability, from partner governments towards their donors, rather than a downwards accountability towards the citizens.

She explained how in Zambia and Malawi, Church organisations were able to look into how funds have been spent, in collaboration with the national government. But this is unfortunately not always possible when the governments and donors are not disclosing information in a systematic way.

Participants also highlighted the need to hold multinational companies accountable for their behaviour in developing countries, which can have adverse effects on development and local communities’ livelihoods. Information regarding agreements between governments and multinational companies should be made available to citizens.

Accountability is also a linked to the debt debate. Some donors and lenders are co-responsible for the high level of debt of some developing countries and they should be held accountable for this.

Participants agreed that citizen’s access to information and the right to information is at the centre of the accountability debate. Information on aid flows should be made available regularly and systematically to CSOs, but also information should vulgarised so that ordinary citizens have a chance to understand it.

At the end of the first day, an ecumenical worship service was given in the main hall of the CSO Forum. Bishop Dandala led the service and Metropolitan Archbishop of Kumasi Ghana, Most Rev. Thomas Mensah, offered to the audience his perspectives on aid effectiveness, with a special focus on situation of fragilities and conflict. During the service, we could hear messages from the health workers, the education workers, the agricultural workers and the youth. The colourful Ghanaian choir enchanted the congregation.
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Part 5: Church perspectives
31 August 2008

On the second day, the CSO Forum provided space and time for proposals of thematic workshops. The ecumenical alliance proposed a workshop entitled “making aid accountable: Church perspectives on aid and development monitoring”.

The workshop was opened by Archbishop Thomas Mensah of Kumasi who stressed that the Church is active in playing a complementary role to the government and the international community in development efforts.

Humphrey Mulemba presented the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection experience in Zambia in monitoring public expenditure as a way to hold government accountable.

JCTR developed a debt resource monitoring manual for citizens to track public expenditure and hold government accountable for the use of the public resources. The project is still in its infancy but it shows promise of stimulating community participation.

Brice Mackosso related the experience of Justice and Peace Commission in Congo Brazzaville in joining the Publish What You Pay campaign, targeting the multinational oil companies operating in the country.

The national authorities demonstrated hostility and sent some activists in jail. Thanks to the mobilization of bishop conferences in different counties and continents, and the support of the World Bank, they were released.

Today, the Justice and Peace Commission carried its monitoring activities and advocacy work to hold accountable the government and the multinational extractive corporations.

Vincent Edoku explained how Caritas Uganda is involved in initiatives centred on promoting good governance and fighting corruption.
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Part 6: The real business begins
2 September 2008

The Third High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness gathers more than a thousand delegates from all over the world representing donor governments, aid recipient governments, national and international development agencies, international financial institutions, members of parliaments, as well as representatives of the civil society.

A first surprise from this Forum is that although only 80 accreditations were originally granted to Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) representatives (including one to Caritas Internationals), the pro-activeness of CSOs paid off and more representatives were taken on board in their national delegations. Eventually, the total number of participants from the civil society could be has large as 150.

Capitalizing on the energy mobilized during the CSO Parallel Forum, CSO representatives have embraced this Forum with a sense of urgency and momentum. CSOs really dominated the debates of the round tables discussions. CSO representatives provided relevant evidences of good and bad practices and asked decisive questions demanding explanations to institutional officials.

With the exception of a government delegate from Africa who questioned the legitimacy of CSOs, it was felt that the CSO messages were generally well received.

Such an acceptance leaves many CSO participants puzzled and begin to wonder if the round tables discussions are not a diversion from the real negotiations scene, taking place behind closed doors amongst governments and agencies only.

There seems to be very limited consensus on the Accra Agenda for Action that will come out of the Forum. Controversial issues include the introduction of an obligation to untie food aid, the setting of more ambitious targets for aid predictability, the lifting of aid conditions.

A second surprise is that the parliamentarian delegation has shrunk because of the decision of the European Parliament Members not to attend the Forum, arguing that parliamentarians have not been part of the Paris Declaration process enough. The lack of engagement of parliaments and the lack of consideration for their instrumental role in implementing the principled of ownership and mutual accountability were underlined by different delegates in different sessions.

Overall, the nature of the talks and exchanges of this first day were fairly technical; the political dimension of aid policy is being disregarded. Charles Mutasa from the African debt-focused NGO, AFRODAD, said at the round table on harmonisation, “Aid effectiveness is not the most important issue in Africa, China is.”
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Part 7: Reflections on effectiveness and coherence
3 September 2008

Effectiveness means impact, notably. In the context of aid effectiveness, the impact we are talking about is people-centre sustainable development; it is about enlarging people’s opportunities, raising people’s living standards, improving people’s living conditions and environment, ensuring people’s ability to exercise their rights, in a sustainable manner.

Aid alone cannot achieve this impact, if it is not planned and implemented in consideration of the many other policies and instruments that affect a country development. Aid must be designed in a broader view that would link together effective aid, sustainable financing, just trade, debt relief, socially responsible corporate agreements, for ‘development effectiveness’.

For donors, the risk is to give with one hand what they take back with the other hand. To avoid this too familiar situation, donors must untie their aid and technical assistance, and ensure more coherence between all external policies around the sole objective of development. This is what we call policy coherence for development.

Policy coherence for development is applicable to partner countries. One important aspect of it, at national level, is the coherence, the lack of it, between the national development strategies and the agreements signed with multinational companies, especially in the area of extractive sectors (oil, copper, diamond). As we heard from our colleagues in the CSO Forum, in many countries of Africa, such as Zambia and Congo Brazzaville, multinational extractive industries operations had very adverse effects and result in an impoverishment of local communities.
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Part 8: Maybe we won’t always have Paris after all
03.09.08

The good thing about today is that dissatisfaction is not only a thing for civil society organisations; but also for ministers!

Many ministers due to finalise and sign the Accra Agenda of Action (AAA) tomorrow, arrived in the Ghanaian capital in the evening to attend the ministerial dinner hosted by the Ghana President. Ministers until then had not been involved in the negotiations, led by their technical staff and what ministers found upon their arrival, was a deadlock situation.

Thus, at technical level, the European Union, Japan, the World Bank and the United States would not compromise on their positions. The EU let the rumour go that they would issue a separate a statement at the end of the Forum, to demonstrate their willingness to go beyond the too weak AAA on specific issues, including the use of country systems and harmonisation, promoting division of labour. Partner countries remained generally silent. African ones showed a lack of coordination and divisions among themselves. Brazil voiced their dissatisfaction with the process which they felt was not inclusive enough. They tried to get other partner countries of Latin America to sign a common separate statement.

At 5.30pm, a general sentiment of failure was blowing in the Accra Conference Centre. René Grotenhuis, representing Caritas Internationalis, evoked an “Agenda for Inaction” announcing “the death of the Paris Declaration”.

But we heard just before the ministerial dinner started that negotiations were re-opened. Many ministers indeed were too unhappy with the AAA as it stood and the absence of room for political manoeuvre.

This provided a light of hope for Civil Society Organisations (CSOs). And since a CSO representative was to read out a CSO statement at the ministerial dinner, there was still a chance to influence the AAA.
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Part 9: A last minute so and so deal
4 September 2008

As we reached the conference centre today, we had no news about the outcome of the ministerial negotiations.

Apparently, negotiators had stayed at the table until 3.am and met again early in the morning.

Nothing much filtered out of the negotiation room, where Civil Society Organisations are not invited. We still hadn’t seen any text but hope starting growing when the French representative of the EU Presidency expressed his content and optimism.

Just after him, Louis Michel, the European Commissioner for Development, said “With this Accra Agenda for Action, we have an operational framework that will allow us to turn our promises into concrete actions”.

Finally, the best kept secret was released and copies were distributed. A first look at it and indeed, it is obviously a much improved version last the previous ones. The language is stronger on different aspects.

The use of country systems has become “the first option for aid programme” and if donors decide not to use them, they will have to justify the reasons.

The role of civil society “as independent development actors in their own right” and of parliaments is recognised throughout the Agenda.
However, the Agenda includes only few time bound actions.

The Forum failed to set more ambitious targets for phasing out tied aid, which creates a virtuous loop by which aid goes back to donor countries. No targets either were set to improve aid predictability, which would allow partner countries to plan better their development process.

Tomorrow will start the hard work ahead of us, Churches and CSOs to advocate for monitoring and accompanying the implementation of the Agenda.

No more words. Action!
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