Mr. Eckhard Deutscher has been the Chair of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) since January 2008. Read more...

Development cooperation needs greater coherence: how can all policies be geared towards development goals?

Policy Coherence is a key concern for development, so it is very relevant and timely to discuss this issue broader deeper.

If we want to see development as the result of our development co-operation investments, we have to look not just at the investment itself, but at the investment environment in which this is taking place. Policy Coherence for Development can significantly increase the impact of development resources contributing to achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

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The Copenhagen Conference of the Parties did not yield the results that were expected both at the time of the 13th Conference of the Parties which took place in Bali in December 2007 and over many months following that event.

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Figures released today by the OECD show a reduction(1) in EU overseas development aid in 2009. At current levels the European Union will not meet commitments to provide 0.7% of GNI in aid by 2015 to reach the Millennium Development Goals. The news represents yet another broken promise by EU governments and delivers a further blow to the MDGs, which will be reviewed in New York this September.

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What are the consequences of the creation of new groupings of emerging economies with a strong emphasis on South-South cooperation? How do we get civil society involved in high level political debates?

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  In these last five years before 2015, we need political support and accountability to meet the MDGs. Do you remember where you were when the bells rang in the new millennium? I was in Egypt at the Temple of the Oracle in the Siwa Oasis seeking wishes and wisdom!

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Hello to all,

I wanted to share with you a project that is particularly dear to me in this year 2010 that is marked by the 50th anniversary celebrations of African independence (symbolically, as this is an average). It is an essay entitled “Africa’s billions”, which I have written with my colleague Olivier Ray and that is published today in French by Odile Jacob (the English version is due to be published early next year).

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Reaction to the OECD global 2010 aid forecast

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Humans are an integral part of biodiversity, just like any other of the planet’s species; we are closely tied to the biodiversity we spurn. It is up to us to manage biodiversity, our mother, and the other resources she affects.

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The ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, and the arrival in Brussels of a new leadership team, together provide an opportunity to re-invigorate European collaboration and collective action in the realm of international development. This publication is the result of a collaboration between 25 researchers from four of Europe’s leading think-tanks on international development. It stems from a shared commitment to European development cooperation, and a sense of urgency about the need to rethink policy for new and challenging times. A new Europe, facing new challenges, will be tested in many fields and sectors. The authors assess the task of reaching the Millennium Development Goals, and rethinking the goals for the period beyond 2015. They make the case for joined-up thinking across the institutions and policies of the EU, emphasising the importance of Policy Coherence for Development. And they examine specific policy areas – trade, state/peace-building, climate change, migration, finance, and the private sector. They lay out an agenda for partnership with developing countries, and examine how actors in the EU system can work better together. The report makes the case for five priorities:

New EU leadership in thinking about how development cooperation can help deal with shared global problems.

EU states to meet their aid promises and improve the targeting and effectiveness of aid spending.

New efforts to ensure coherence between development and other policies.

Providing new life to development partnerships.

Improved cooperation between Member States, so that the EU really does work as one.

You can read the entire report here.
 
 

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The English translation is not available yet.

La crise serait-elle derrière nous ? En cet automne 2009, on se prend à rêver. « La reprise se confirme mais reste encore fragile », titrait le Monde du 13 novembre, après avoir la veille, consacré un article au « retour en force des hedge funds ». Si finalement, la crise s’estompe moins d’un an après, n’aurait-on pas finalement, fait beaucoup de bruit pour rien ?

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