Roma, 24 set 2011 10:13 - (Agenzia Nova) - An opportunity ‘to do more, and better, with less at our disposal’: according to Italy’s Foreign Minister, Franco Frattini, this is what the Fourth World Forum on aid effectiveness to be held in Busan (South Korea) is all about. From November 29th to December Ist the initiative will see the participation of representatives of ministries and governments from all over the world, of donor and developing countries, of non-profit organisations and entrepreneurs from the private sector; 2000 delegates gathered to assess aid quality at global level. They will share experiences and results achieved and discuss a new framework to further increase the effectiveness of national and international cooperation keeping in mind the Millennium Development Goals.
‘Our position regarding the Busan Forum,’ explained Frattini in an interview for “Nova,” ‘revolves around three important concepts. The first is the relevance of the Forum as an opportunity to stake stock of the situation; the second regards the territorial context of cooperation based on the principle that beneficiary populations should be given decision-making power for their development; the third is a new concept of development aid that takes into account emerging advocates of cooperation (civil society, private enterprise, territorial bodies, foundations and universities) and therefore new instruments.’
The Busan Forum is the fourth international summit on aid effectiveness, following the first held in Rome (2003), the second in Paris (2005) and the third in Accra (2008). The Paris Declaration outlined the principles of effectiveness and established commitments at global level; the Accra Agenda for Action saw the full participation of foundations and civil society. Today, the question of effectiveness is more urgent than in the past because the global economic crisis has had a negative impact on cooperation so coordinating aid and improving its quality is the only possible strategy to ensure that solidarity is advantageous.
‘A study conducted in 2009 by an independent organization for the European Commission,’ recalled the Minister, ‘estimated that the application of the aid effectiveness agenda by all Member States in their development cooperation activities would translate into a saving of between three and six billion euros annually on total EU cooperation expenditure. So we are talking of an estimated improvement of cost-effectiveness in the region of six per cent.’
A saving that, in terms of minor administrative and running costs would be high also for Italian Cooperation. ‘This,’ continued Frattini ‘is one of the reasons why for a number of years now, Cooperation has committed itself to implementing a series of measures to make its development cooperation activities more effective and efficient. This was made possible mainly thanks to the adoption and implementation of two national aid effectiveness plans. And besides, we have to be realistic: Law 49 (that in 1987 regulated Italian Cooperation’s activities with developing countries, editor’s note) reflects an historical period and operational context which in many ways have been superseded.’
Italy has very clear ideas on how to respond to the principles of aid effectiveness established in Paris in 2005; the intervention of developing countries needs to be more organic and coordinated; new resources must be activated and new actors involved through fruitful collaboration between the public sector and private enterprise. ‘One of the priority objectives,’ explained the Italian Foreign Minister ‘is linked to reducing the fragmentation of cooperation activities; by decreasing the number of small projects on one hand, and promoting and improving large-scale programmes or through direct, non-earmarked support to the budget of partner countries on the other, we could reduce both the costs related to the identification of activities and their operating costs.’
And this not all. According to Frattini, ‘An increased utilization of the mechanisms and procedures of partner countries for the operating and control of cooperation activities would reduce both operating costs and administrative expenses. Lastly, another priority objective worth mentioning is the effort to curb the “proliferation of donors.”’’ In conclusion, Minister Frattini pointed out that ‘It is also evident that a more systematic and less erratic earmarking of the funds at our disposal would increase the capacity and consequently reduce the ineffectiveness of activities.’
