From Aid Effectiveness to Development Effectiveness

The Second regional Meeting on Aid Effectiveness, South-South Cooperation and Capacity Development, to be held in Tunis on 4-5 November 2010, will help set the agenda for this dialogue. Organised by the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency and the African Development Bank, it will involve around 160 participants drawn from African governments, parliaments, private sector and civil society.

The meeting’s subtitle, “From Aid Effectiveness to Development Effectiveness,” reflects the changing nature of the international debate leading up to HLF-4. The Paris Declaration focused mainly on the mechanics of aid delivery, seeking to eliminate bottlenecks to more effective assistance. While this was undoubtedly an important agenda—and one for which many challenges remain—it arguably narrowed the policy debate to the administration of aid, at the expense of broader development issues. Ultimately, the effectiveness of aid is only one component in the broader question of how partner countries can be enabled to achieve their development potential. The Second Regional Meeting is an opportunity to explore the parameters of a broader development policy agenda.