The health system is failing to deliver medicines and vaccines to combat the infectious diseases that plague tropical countries. What can be done?

Innovation and poverty reduction were in the spotlight at the OECD High Level Forum on Medicines for Neglected and Emerging Infectious Diseases in Noordwijk-aan-Zee, 21 June 2007. The Forum recognised that the health innovation system is failing

to deliver necessary medicines, vaccines and diagnostics to cure poor people, plagued with infectious diseases. This is compounding poverty. Policies and practices need to change.

Security matters to the poor and other vulnerable groups, especially women and children, because bad policing, weak justice and penal systems and corrupt militaries mean that they suffer disproportionately from crime, insecurity and fear. The OECD DAC Handbook on Security System Reform aims to make a difference to the lives of poor people by translating policy into practice.

How effective is aid at helping developing countries to build and manage their own poverty-reducing development strategies? A landmark report provides a snapshot of the state of affairs in 2005 on the implementation of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness.

Also in this issue...

DAC Peer Reviews

• Denmark

• European Community

The Czech Republic has become the first non-DAC donor to complete a review of its development co-operation programme. In response to a request of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the DAC agreed to conduct a Special Review of Czech international development co-operation. Conceived primarily as a consultative process, the main objective was to inform and offer advice to the Czech authorities’ internal dialogue on the reform of the country’s ODA system.

What is a Peer Review?

News in Brief

• How can development co-operation best contribute to promoting pro-poor growth in partner countries? Decision makers need evidence on the likely distributional impacts of their intervention. They need to know which transmission channels are the most effective in reaching the poor and vulnerable. POVNET has therefore developed the ex ante Poverty Impact Assessment (PIA) approach to help donors and their developing country partners address key questions that influence impacts and outcomes of their policies, programmes and projects.
• Gender equality and aid delivery: what has changed in development co-operation agencies since 1999? Set against the background of the changes in aid delivery, this report examines practices and institutional approaches to gender equality and women’s empowerment in OECD DAC members’ development co-operation agencies. It presents the key findings and conclusions of a study conducted in 2006.
• Trade Related Assistance: What do Recent Evaluations Tell us? This publication provides guidance for enhancing the effectiveness and impact of future trade-related assistance. It provides a timely input to the ongoing discussions among the aid and trade communities for effectively designing and delivering “aid for trade” as a complement to the Doha Development Agenda.
• In his opening statement to the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting held on 15-16 May 2007, the Secretary-General underlined that the DAC has a central role to play in making sure that we continue to focus on achieving the MDGs. Furthermore, the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness is increasing mutual accountability between donor and recipient countries for achieving the development results committed by members.
• Why has growth been more successful in reducing poverty in some countries than in others? How can poor women and men best participate in, contribute to and benefit from the growth process? Why is pro-poor growth important and what can donors do to promote it? This book provides policy guidance to donors on Promoting Pro-Poor Growth, based on recent work of the DAC.
• On 15 April 2007 the OECD Secretary-General Mr. Angel Gurría and Richard Manning, Chair of the Development Assistance Committee, made a statement to the Development Committee. As the latter confronts the challenges ahead to achieve the MDGs, especially concerning gender and fragile states, this statement examines the specific challenges related to commitments on aid volume, effectiveness and architecture and gender.
• On 4 April 2007, Ministers of Development Co-operation and Heads of Agencies agreed to improve governance to fight corruption.

OECD DAC Statistics including Aid at a Glance charts for DAC members, recipient countries, and by region.

About Us

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 information about OECD Development work.

Subscribe

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