See also:  Phase 1 - Public consultation on the OECD Strategy on Development

 

At the OECD's 50th Anniversary Ministerial Council Meeting (MCM) on 25-26 May 2011, Ministers welcomed a new comprehensive approach to development across the OECD and endorsed the Framework for an OECD Strategy on Development. The framework outlines a broader development strategy for the OECD, which seeks to achieve higher, more inclusive, sustainable growth for the widest number of countries. 

 

The MCM Chair, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, stressed in the summary document that this would be “accomplished by greater collaboration and knowledge sharing, as well as deepening partnerships between the Organisation and developing countries that want to engage”. “From Latin America, to Africa, to Southeast Asia, and now to the Middle East and North Africa, this is the moment to leverage the strengths of this organization to deliver transformative growth. And the OECD’s new framework for development marks an important step in that direction”, Secretary Clinton noted. Read her remarks.

 

Framework for an OECD Strategy on Development

 

The Framework for an OECD Strategy on Development, endorsed by Ministers, outlines a broader development strategy for the Organisation. The Framework presents key elements of the new strategy that will aim to:

• Strengthening OECD partnerships and mechanisms for knowledge sharing and policy dialogue  with developing countries;
• Applying a comprehensive approach to development by mainstreaming development across OECD sectors and ensuring flexibility in responding to new global development challenges while taking into account developing country concerns;
• Fostering policy coherence for development, not only among member countries, but also within the Organisation itself, and in emerging and developing countries.

 

The OECD will strengthen its development efforts in strategic areas where it responds to demands and needs of emerging and developing countries, has core competencies, contributes to - but does not replicate - the work of other international and regional organisations and donors, and leverages its multi-disciplinary expertise. Today these areas include: innovative and sustainable sources of growth; mobilisation of resources for development; governance for development; measuring progress for development.

Better Policies for Development - Report on the Devgoals exercise

 

Since October 2009, the OECD has been working towards the creation of a broader OECD Strategy for Development. This effort - known as the DevGoals exercise - aims to define a more comprehensive approach to development in order to better articulate the OECD’s multidisciplinary expertise with its knowledge on development issues, and to ensure that this work is accessible and relevant to countries at all stages of development.

 

The resulting Report on the “Devgoals initiative” constituted a key background document for the development session of the MCM. The experience and findings from this exercise have fed into the Framework document and will contribute to the definition of the new OECD Strategy on Development, to be presented at the 2012 OECD Ministerial Council Meeting.

 

The report, entitled “Better Policies for Development - Report on the Devgoals exercise”, summarises the outcomes of the four pilot projects of the DevGoals exercise - tax and development; food security; investment in infrastructure development, and; green growth - and highlights key policy challenges and next steps to be taken for each of these four areas of work. The last section of the report presents other key areas of work where the OECD has core competence and can add value, including good governance, human resource development and social inclusion, and gender.

 

More about the 2011 Ministerial Council Meeting.