VOICE national consultation on 'Road to Accra: Paris Declaration and Aid Effectiveness'

Multi-stakeholders discussion held: Effective use of foreign aid helps reduce poverty
Staff Reporter/ http://nation.ittefaq.com/ 10 July 2008

Speakers at a discussion yesterday urged donors and recipient countries to reform and properly manage foreign aid in order to improve its effectiveness.They however, said that widening of tax net and proper investment of foreign remittances could significantly help reduce the country's aid dependency.

If the necessary reforms were carried out in the utilization of foreign aid then it would reduce poverty, inequality, accelerate economic growth, build capacity and enhance the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG's), they added.

Their observation came at a multi-stakeholder discussion on "Paris Declaration and Aid Effectiveness" jointly organised by Voice and Aid Accountability at Jatiya Press Club.

Dr Kazi Koliquzzaman Ahmad presided over the function. Dr Atiur Rahman, Dr Pias Karim, Bo Sundstrom of DFID, Jan Moller Hansen, Charge d' Affaires of the Danish Embassy, Monwar Hossain Akhand and Mohsin Ali, among others, took part in the discussion. Ahmed Swapan Mahmud gave vote of thanks.

Dr Atiur Rahman said the international donor agencies should be accountable and have a culture of self-criticism."There is a need for debt cancellation for the developing countries at least for the sake of climate change," he said adding that the developed countries are mainly responsible for the adverse affect of climate change in the globe.

"Many non-government organisations (NGO's) are not democratic and they look like another government," he observed.He said the relationship between the Government and NGO's need to be harmonised in the case of receiving and utilising foreign aid.
Dr Kazi Koliquzzaman Ahmad said regular exchanges of views are necessary between the Government, donors and stakeholders for effective use of foreign aid.

"If we strengthen our local governments and mobilise resources then we could scale down much of our foreign aid dependency," he said.

They placed some recommendations that include creating an effective and relevant independent monitoring and evaluation system for the Paris Declaration, commitment to give aid for poverty eradication and human rights development and ensure meaningful participation by Civil Society Organisations (CSO's) in Accra for discussing the effectiveness of foreign aid in September next.

Lenders’ reps admit failure to judge quality of projects
Staff Correspondent / www.newagebd.com/ 10 July 2008

Overseas funding agencies and countries providing aid have not always shown due discretion in judging the quality of projects and spending mechanisms of recipients including Bangladesh, admitted two donor representatives on Wednesday.
At a multi-stakeholder consultation on ‘Aid Effectiveness’ in Dhaka, they said the voice of Bangladeshis had not been reflected in development planning and formulating policy documents such as the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, especially in the absence of a functional parliament.
Bo Sundstrom, head of corporate business in the UK Department for International Development in Bangladesh, mentioned that the biggest mistake in the PRSP was the lack of its independent evaluation when the strategy document was not operational.
‘We do not have a lot of patience [while providing aid]; we remain under pressure from our governments,’ said Jan Moller Hansen of the Danish embassy in Dhaka, dwelling on the mistakes and errors of judgement in disbursement of foreign aid. He urged Bangladeshi citizens and civil society organisations to question the various activities of the government, including spending of the funds received as aid.
Terming the disbursement of aid inadequate, the president of the Bangladesh Economic Association, Quazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, pointed out that the donors and lenders were often ignorant of, or did not care about, the ground reality. He alleged that by imposing various conditions, lenders such as the World Bank had been violating the Paris Declaration which emphasised freedom of the recipients in using aid.
Three non-government organisations — VOICE, Aid Accountability Group and The Reality of Aid — organised the consultation on ‘Road to Accra: Paris Declaration and Aid Effectiveness’ ahead of the upcoming conference in the Ghanaian capital to review the use of foreign aid.

Hansen opined that the overseas donors and lenders could not change the people’s condition entirely, but could only facilitate the recipient countries like Bangladesh to attain the development goals. He further admitted that wholesale privatisation was not a solution and could not bring about the economic emancipation of the people.
Sundstrom went one step forward, saying Bangladesh was nowadays not dependent on foreign aid which, amounting to $1.7 billion, was about 2 per cent of Bangladesh’s gross domestic product.
Emphasising the need for mutual accountability, the DfID official said Bangladesh’s development partners were going to develop joint cooperation strategies to ensure effective use of aid. He also termed the holding of the general elections in Bangladesh a major challenge.

In each $100 that came to Bangladesh as aid, 25 per cent went to donors, 30 per cent to the bureaucrats, contractors, politicians and commissioning agents, 20 per cent to rural and urban elite and only 25 per cent to the poor, noted Ahmed Swapan Mahmud while presenting his paper.

World Bank official Kate Krackerberger also acknowledged insufficient investment, ineffective delivery and unpredictability of donor financing in achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals.

Economist Atiur Rahman and rights activist Royeya Kabir said small non-government organisations were being excluded from the process of aid disbursement as big fishes having remained dominant in receiving the donors’ attention.
Atiur stressed the importance of debt cancellation because of the tremendously adverse effects of climate change on Bangladesh.

Kholiquzzaman recommended proper payment of taxes, making official information to the public, investing remittances in small and medium
enterprises and facilitating devolution of power by strengthening local government institutions to make the country self-reliant.

Strong local govt seen vital for tiding over aid dependency
Staff Reporter// http://www.theindependent-bd.com/ 10 July 2008

Participatory democracy, capacity building of politicians as well as public administrations, strong local government and long-term commitment can make Bangladesh an aid non-dependent country.

Donors will come to the country as visitors to see how we developed if, we pay taxes regularly, our government keep us informed about the state policies, our foreign remittances are utilised for the benefit of the poor and our local government develop into a strong force to mobilise local resources, said Dr Kazi Kholikuzzaman Ahmed, president, Bangladesh Economist Association.

It this regard partnerships among civil society organisations, government and non-government organisations are imperative, he also said.

He was speaking yesterday at a multi-stakeholder national consultation programme participated by representative from both the donors and recipients at National Press Club.
Titled on 'Paris Declaration and Aid Effectiveness', the programme was jointly organised by VOICE, Aid Accountability Group, and The Reality of Aid.
Economist Dr Atiur Rahman, Bo Sundstorm, Head of Corporate Business, DFID, John Molar, Charge d'Affaires, Danish Embassy, Kate Krockenberger, International Health Partnership, World Bank, Ahmed Swpon Mahmud, executive director, VOICE, and Mohsin Ali, executive director, Wave Foundation, spoke among others at the discussion.
World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) are releasing aids imposing conditions. They are violating the Paris declaration. They are not patience. They want to get the things done by them and very quickly, Dr. Kholikuzzaman said.

John Molar said, donor agencies, just have to assist. We are not implementing anything. We are no better than national institutions. I think it should be understood.
"I am not only concerned on Danish assistance. My concern is over Bangladesh and its people", he said.

"You should ask the government how it is spending the funds. You should have efficient administration. I realise, donors cannot make a change, unless it is Bangladesh people," the Charge d'Affaires also said.

Many donors have lot of resources, but they have their own demands. How will you manage if you had weak government? He asked.

"There is no long term institutional capacity building process in the country. You need to have good manager. You all know you have few people to take a decision. There is no dedication in decision making," Molar also said.

We need to see strong local governments. Without strong local government you can developed, he said.Referring his country the Danish Charge d'Affaires said, our politicians came from workforce. We do not develop our country with influential people. So, people have to get organise to raise voice.

Regarding different privatisation process in the country he said, you can not develop by privatisation. Socio economic development is not possible by private forces. You can not make private everything, but there should be a connection between government and private bodies.
About the conditions of donor agencies while releasing funds he said, "Conditions are nothing but to build a partnership. But it is the policy makers who will negotiate. So, civil society, policy makers should have the capacity or skill to negotiate."
He emphasised on participatory democracy. Without participation of all you cannot identify the problems of common people. And nothing can be achieved without long-term commitment, he said.
Kholikuzzaman said, Bangladesh lost its dignity. Our brain is always prepared to receive aid. Overnight change is not possible. It is not possible to wipe out corruption or to establish good governance in a day. We have to work on it, he said.
Bo Sundstorm highlighted the key development challenges in Bangladesh and how we can make development cooperation more effective.He referred political instability, state of emergency and caretaker government as challenges of development.
In a paper he termed 2008 a crossroads, due to uncertainty about elections, security and stability. Complex linkage between climate change, population growth and demographical changes (urbanisation), growing economy, inequality, growing demand for public services and food security, are the key trends and challenges.
He said, aid is less than two per cent of country's economy. So, Bangladesh is not an aid dependent country. But its weak political ownership, weak institutional set-up and capacity and lack of monitoring and dialogue are the major challenges.
Bo Sundstorm termed elections in December 2008 key event for Bangladesh to go into the next steps.
The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, agreed in March 2005, establishes global commitment for donor and recipient countries to support more effective aid in context of a significant scaling up of aid.The intention is to reform the delivery and management of aid in order to improve its effectiveness.