DAC News ^{April-May 2005}
News from the OECD Development Assistance Committee Secretariat

Donors Increase Aid - But 2006 a Challenge

Member countries of the OECD DAC increased their Official Development Assistance (ODA) by 4.6% in real terms in 2004. Who is giving what? For analysis and a country break-down, click here.

Aid Effectiveness - What's Happening Post Paris?

Over one hundred donor and developing countries agreed for the first time to measure their success at making aid more effective with a set of commitments, indicators and targets. Exactly what all the targets will look like in the final Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness is still being decided. 

Next steps in the Paris Declaration.

Security & Development – Ministers Clarify ODA Eligibility

Ministers agree wording for six activities which count as development spending in conflict areas (PDF, 33KB). More information on the Ministerial meeting.

In My Opinion....

Chief of Staff to the United Nations Secretary-General, Mark Malloch Brown writes exclusively for DAC News on the links between security and poverty, making rich and poor alike vulnerable, why commitments to ODA should be a criteria for UN Security Council membership, and a role for the UN with bilateral donors......

Click here to read full article.

Peer Reviews – Ownership the Key to Effective Aid

Developing country ownership is key to poverty reduction; multi-year funding commitments not yet general practice but development success depends on aid predictability. Peer Review team reports on recent trends (PDF, 16KB).

Latest and upcoming Peer Reviews.

In the Field - Congo: Poverty and Enterprise

DAC secretariat staff spend much of their time in developing countries assessing progress towards aid effectiveness. This month, Hunter McGill, Head of the Peer Review team, reports from the Congo.

See also the Aid at a Glance Chart showing recent debt relief for Congo, Democratic Republic. Charts for other recipient countries and DAC donors.

Comment

Richard Manning, Chair of the DAC Blueprint for the Field not the Office I believe the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness can change the way we think about doing aid better, in the same way the Millennium Development Goals changed the way the world thinks about what aid is for. Yes, we still need to reach consensus on remaining targets...

Michael Roeskau, Director of the DAC Secretariat New Pilots in Fragile States If we want to target developing countries where we can get the highest returns, we should disregard countries whose performances are unsatisfactory, or where the political will to reduce poverty is absent. But then we risk creating ‘donor darlings’ and more importantly ‘donor orphans’...

News in Brief

• 2005 edition of International Development Statistics is published on line and available as a CD-Rom
• New DAC report on aid supporting gender equality plus update on Beijing +10 conference
• African cotton forum at OECD Paris marks new willingness from the EU and the US to work together
• OECD Heads of Information meet directly after the High Level Forum to discuss best ways to promote aid effectiveness.

Upcoming Events

• Release of Global Monitoring Report, World Bank April 14 2005
• OECD Forum 2005 -  Fuelling the Future: Security, Stability, Development, Paris May 2-3 2005
• Meeting of Council at Ministerial Level (MCM), OECD May 3-4 2005
• UN General Assembly High Level Meeting: progress on HIV/AIDS, New York June 2 2005
• G7 Ministerial Meeting, London June 10-11 2005
• UN General Assembly High Level Dialogue on Financing for Development, New York June 27-28 2005
• G8 Summit, Gleneagles July 6-8 2005
• UN General Assembly Five-Year Review of the Millennium Development Declaration, New York September 14-16 2005.

Recent Publications on Development

• Harmonising Donor Practices for Effective Aid Delivery:
  - Volume 2, Budget Support, Sector Wide Approaches and Capacity Development in Public Financial Management (PDF, 811KB)
  - Volume 3, Strengthening Procurement Capacities in Developing Countries (PDF, 850KB)
• Financing ICTs for Development: Efforts of DAC Members (PDF, 1.6MB)
• New Jeffrey D. Sachs Time magazine book excerpt: The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for our Time (PDF, 478KB).

Key ODA Statistics

New gender statistics released:

• Aid in support of gender equality is concentrated in the social sectors, especially basic education and health.
• About half the aid to these sectors targeted gender concerns in some way in 1999-2003.
• About 10% of aid to these sectors was given for the main purpose of promoting gender equality.

OECD DAC statistics.

About Us

Welcome to the e-news bulletin from the OECD DAC. DAC News is a bi-monthly update where you will find the latest on development issues, an update on DAC’s work, informed opinion, the latest statistics, and quick links to more information.

The OECD DAC is the main global forum where bilateral donors, alongside multilateral donors, work together to achieve real development progress for poorer countries. More About the DAC, including DAC in Dates (PDF, 335KB).

More information about OECD Development work.

Subscribe

Register for DAC News. If you know someone who would like to subscribe, please forward them this link: www.oecd.org/dac/newsletter/register.