When the United Nations Development Cooperation Forum (UN-DCF) met in New York on 12-13 March, it did so in a context characterised by both extraordinary uncertainty and a once in a decade opportunity. The resounding message was one of “international development cooperation is in crisis” as a result of unprecedented aid cuts announced in recent months by rich countries. Yet, with the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) only three months away, the international community has a rare chance to reinforce the norm setting role of the United Nations, democratise decision-making on development cooperation, and reclaim Official Development Assistance (ODA) flows for their intended purpose. With only five years left to  fulfil the promises enshrined in the 2030 Agenda, most of which have either stagnated or regressed, the need to significantly ramp up efforts and to take transformative action is urgent.       

Created in 2007, as an outcome of the 2005 World Summit, the UN-DCF is a platform within the UN that meets every two years to address trends and progress in international development cooperation. While it is unique in convening all actors under the UN umbrella to address issues that are elsewhere discussed in disparate institutional and policy silos often driven by the interests and priorities of rich countries, it has always struggled to gain the traction and influence one might have expected when it was first created. This is mainly due to lack of political will, in particular, from rich countries.

This year’s UN-DCF was no different, and as much could be understood from the silence of certain governments as the actual words spoken throughout the proceedings. The Chair of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Developments Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC), made a strong plea in the opening panel to ringfence ODA for countries that are most in need, and Spain, the host of FfD4, was active throughout, drumming up support for the upcoming conference. Otherwise, the most concerning observation relates to the low level of engagement in the forum from rich countries, which comprise the OECD-DAC.     

The dynamic observed last week reflects a surprising lack of urgency from rich countries and their strong resistance to move the governance of international development cooperation to the UN by, for instance, strengthening the role of the UN-DCF. The argument often put forward is that the “UN doesn’t offer a space for meaningful exchange or dialogue”. Sadly, it is a bit like refusing to water a plant and then complaining when it doesn’t grow.

For all the talk of wanting to reduce fragmentation in the international development cooperation architecture, there is a surprising level of stubbornness when entertaining options that could create a pathway towards harmonising the international system by bringing all actors under one roof. The UN-DCF, in its current state, is by no means perfect, but that is deliberate. The shortcomings and most frequent criticisms that it receives, could be addressed by strengthening it in the following three interconnected areas:

1. Upgrading its mandate to an intergovernmental process that takes decisions and produces outcomes that can be tracked and monitored. The most effective way to turn the UN-DCF from a ‘talk shop’ into a process that can change behaviour and drive policy is to give it the power to do so, which it currently lacks.
2. Expanding its activities to include technical working groups and regular exchange that provide space for deepened engagement, knowledge sharing, capacity building and policy analysis. At one time, the UN-DCF would host technical symposia and provide invaluable spaces for technical dialogue and exchange, but it no longer does so. These should be restarted with a more direct link to the intergovernmental process, and policy and decision making that go with it.
3. Resourcing it so that it can carry out its mandate and activities, and support the international development cooperation system as intended. The UN-DCF has been chronically underfunded and has therefore been constrained in its ability to provide meaningful contributions to the international development cooperation community on a regular and predictable basis.

Civil society organisations have been calling on governments to raise ambition and put forward transformative reforms, including to the governance of international development cooperation, so that the rules ensure that it goes to where it is needed most. Strengthening the UN-DCF can be a first step towards renewing and heightening global commitments on international development cooperation.

FfD4 presents the opportunity to do so.

Read Matt's intervention at the UN DCF, or watch it on UN Web TV

Watch Salvatore Nocerino's (Oxfam International) intervention on UN Web TV