Transcript Development Cooperation in Asia Pacific

DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION IN
ASIA PACIFIC: OPPORTUNITIES AND
CHALLENGES
DON K. MARUT
ASIA PACIFIC TRADE UNION COOPERATION NETWORK MEETING
BANGKOK 3 – 5 DECEMBER, 2014
OUTLINE
1.
Aid and Development Effectiveness – High Level Forums
2.
Flash Back on Commitments
3.
Busan Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation
4.
Istanbul Principles and CSOs Development Effectiveness
5.
CSOs Engagement in International Development Cooperation
6.
Asia Pacific Development Effectiveness Facility (APDEF)
7.
New Opportunities and Challenges
8.
Next Steps
HIGH LEVEL MEETINGS ON AID AND
DEVELOPMENT EFFECTIVENESS
GPEDC HLM
HLF- 4
HLF-3
HLF-2
Busan Nov 29-Dec 1,
2011
HLF-1
Accra Action
Agenda
Monterrey
Consensus
2002
Paris Declaration
Rome
on Aid
Declaration on
Effectiveness
Harmonisation
2003
2005
2008
GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR
EFFECTIVE DEVELOPMENT
COOPERATION
2011
Mexico
Declarati
on
2014
Flash-Back

2000: UN Millennium Declaration  Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs)

2002: Monterey Consensus: Developed countries committed to
contribute 0.7% of GNI to support development in poor countries.
Until 2014, only two countries fulfilled (with questions of accounting
issues)

2003: Rome Declaration on Harmonization  donors to harmonize
development aid.

2005: Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. 1 paragraph
emphasized the achievement of MDGs.

2008: Accra Agenda for Action: CSOs are recognized as
development actors in their own rights.
Busan Partnership for Effective
Development Cooperation
Paragraph 22 of Busan Outcome Document: …we will:
a) Implement fully our respective commitments to enable CSOs to exercise their roles
as independent development actors, with a particular focus on an Enabling
Environment, consistent with agreed international rights, that maximizes the
contributions of CSOs to development.

b)
Encourage CSOs to implement practices that strengthen their accountability and
their contribution to development effectiveness, guided by the Istanbul
Principles and the International Framework for CSO Development
Effectiveness.

In reality:

Enabling environment is still problem in Asia Pacific. Killing of CSOs activists still take
place in some countries in Asia.

The emerging of China and India in development cooperation in Asia Pacific raise big
challenges.
CSOs Effectiveness: 8 Principles for CSO Development
Effectiveness (Istanbul Principles)
CSOs Engagements


After Accra: Two Platforms

Open Forum

Better Aid
After Busan:


Open Forum and Better Aid merged  CPDE (CSO Partnership for Development
Effectiveness).
CPDE Structure:

Global Council  Global Coordinating Committee: 5 co-chairs

Regional Representatives

Sectoral Representatives: Rural, Labor, Feminist, Faith-Based organization, Indigenous Peoples,
Youth Groups

International NGOs

Regional Coordinating Committee

Sub-regional Coordinating Committee

Country Coordinating Committee
Asia Pacific Region: countries and
sectors are represented
•
•
Five Sub-regions:

North East Asia Sub-region

West Asia Sub-Region

Pacific Sub-region

South Asia Sub-region

South East Asia Sub-region
Sectoral Representatives at Regional and Sub-regional Levels:
•
Labor
•
Rural
•
Feminist
•
Indigenous Peoples
•
Faith-Based
•
Youth
GPEDC

After Busan, the development actors establish a forum called
Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation

Three Co-chairs

Steering Committee members:

Government Representatives: North and South (OECD and Non-OECD)

Business representatives

CSOs Representatives: 2 persons
Opportunities and Challenges
1. Asia-Pacific Development
Effectiveness facility

In preparation to Mexico HLM, donors, governments, business,
parliaments and CSOs in Asia Pacific established a Facility for
coordination and support for the implementation of Busan
partnership commitments, and to prepare for high level meeting in
Mexico.

The Facility is called APDEF – Asia Pacific Development Effectiveness
Facility, established in Dacca, Bangladesh in September 2013.

Civil society is represented in APDEF.

APDEF is also linked to Asian Development Forum – a forum of the
ministries of development planning and ministries of finance.

APDEF has conducted several meetings before Mexico HLM, and
two meetings/workshops after Mexico High Level Meeting.
2. Role of Middle Income Countries
Asia-Pacific, and South East Asia in particular, consist of middle income
countries or emerging markets. Some of the countries in South East Asia
are now becoming donors, such as Malaysia and Thailand.
 Numbers and roles of CSOs in middle income countries are actually
significant: development, human rights, democracy, etc.
 Contradictions in middle income countries:


Number of poor population is high

Highly indebted

Problems in health and education are severe.

Environmental issues are endemic

CSOs spaces are shrinking.

The middle income countries still need external financial support, but will be
mostly excluded from the list of foreign aid.
3. South-south cooperation and
Triangular cooperation

South-South cooperation has been increasingly paid more attention, that
include:

Governments,

Business sectors

CSOs: CPDE is active in formulating and assessing south-south cooperation

Triangular cooperation is mainly focused on knowledge sharing and promoting
the roles of business sectors. South-South and Triangular Cooperation in Asia
Pacific Region need to be promoted.

CSOs have been long involved in South-South cooperation: networking,
exchange visits, joint trainings and workshops, sharing knowledge and skills, etc.

Challenges:

Replication of projects from one country to other countries within triangular
frameworks have not been well assessed, to include the perceptions and opinions of
the local communities in the country of origins about the benefits of the projects.
4. CSOs vs. Business sector

In Mexico HLM, business sector was the champion. Governments and
donors provided more spaces for business sectors rather than other
development actors, particularly CSOs.

The participation of CSOs in Mexico was not as significant as that in
Busan (my own observation). CSOs were not well organized, although
there was special CSO Forum. CSOs were mainly “invited participants”
rather than “the main actor” in the HLM.

The emergence of business sectors in Asia Pacific will bring new
resources for development.

But at the same time, the emergence of the business sectors in
development arena in Asia Pacific also challenges the CSOs. The
questions:

Do business sectors respect human rights, environmental sustainability,
gender equality, etc?
5. New challenges: China and
India onboard

After APDEF held a workshop on middle income countries and SouthSouth cooperation in Seoul, China held a workshop on middle income
countries in Beijing. The workshop in Beijing mainly discussed:

The roles of business sector

The indicators of South-South cooperation, which refused indicators made
by OECD-DAC.

The questions about the roles of CSOs.
China and India refused to include CSOs in international development
cooperation.
 The involvement of China and India in Asia Pacific development
cooperation might pose significant challenges for CSOs in Asia Pacific.
 Investments of China and India (and Russia) in Asia Pacific are
increasing, and these will challenge development cooperation in the
region.

Next Steps

Strengthening CSOs at country level

Improve engagements with governments and business sectors at
country levels and local levels.

Strengthening the engagements with parliaments at national and
local level.

Promoting more dialogues and strengthening networks among
CSOs sectors at country level and at regional level.