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Civil society response to new Accra agenda for action
05 August 2008
Without concrete commitments, Accra outcome will be an Agenda for Inaction
Response from CSO International Steering Group to Final Draft of AAA (25th July 2008)
Political leaders have repeatedly committed to making aid better at delivering positive change for poor people, but their credibility is seriously at stake. Over 1,000 officials from donor and developing countries will meet in Accra on 2nd – 4th September 2008 for the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness. The majority will be present courtesy of Official Development Assistance budgets. An agenda for inaction would be a scandalous outcome of this Forum.
Not enough progress has been made in making aid work for poor people. The official evidence confirms this. We know that donors have the power to unblock many of the obstacles to improving aid. The official evidence confirms this too. If donors do not make concrete commitments to change the way they do business when they meet in Accra, the outcome will be more inaction, and more ineffective – or worse – harmful aid for poor people.
Civil society organisations (CSOs) would like to raise a number of objections to the final draft of the Accra Agenda for Action (25th July) and are calling on ministers from donor and developing countries, and heads of donor agencies to insist that these issues are discussed at the highest levels in Accra and addressed in the final outcome document.
Firstly we would like to object to the claim that the “views of some 60 CSOs have fed into this draft”. CSOs – primarily through the CSO International Steering Group for Accra (ISG) – have repeatedly put forward our views but these on the whole have been ignored. Indeed, the latest draft of the AAA reflects even fewer CSO views than previous drafts. We have set out our key demands again in the file below and also refer the Working Party and Consensus Group to our previous contributions to the drafting process.
Related bloglinks:
Accra agenda for Inaction (or do as I say but not as I do)
To aid or not to aid?
Civil society response to final draft of AAA
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