- Published: 10.07.2015.
CF2015: Small donors play important role in development cooperation
The third panel of Croatia Forum, moderated by former political advisor to the senior civilian representative in Mazar-e-Sharif Lara Romano, was dedicated to development as a hub for finances, know-how and partnership
The third panel of Croatia Forum, moderated by former political advisor to the senior civilian representative in Mazar-e-Sharif Lara Romano, was dedicated to development as a hub for finances, know-how and partnership.
Børge Brende, Norwegian Foreign Minister, was hopeful about global consensus on development financing at the Adis Abeba conference. The importance of official development assistance to developing countries is on the decline due to direct foreign investments, which is a positive trend, but development assistance needs to be further strengthened in terms of private investments.
Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevičs underscored the importance of strengthening local institutions and the role of Euro-Atlantic integration in advancing the rule of law. Military alliances such as NATO are also anticorruption instruments, he said.
That small countries are motivated to offer development assistance today is to be expected given the interconnectedness of crises, said Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki. Macedonia is below the EU economic standard, but the immigrant crisis necessitates cooperation with countries of origin, he said, adding that Macedonia invested in education of its students abroad and vice versa, to establish ties with countries outside of its immediate neighbourhood.
Abdoulaye Diop, Malian Foreign Minister, said that the Sahel countries required assistance in strengthening capacities to prevent development aid diverting into security threats, as well as to prevent ideological radicalization and develop local economy. Africa expects the Sustainable Development Goals to focus on economic transformation, as social challenges can be overcome only by reinvesting the acquired capital.
The international community’s attention is not a guarantee of growth for transition countries, said Kosovar Foreign Minister Hashim Thaçi. Kosovo is a proof of how opportunities can be wasted by misdirecting development assistance when the process is being governed by donors with no involvement from the recipient country’s citizens. Assistance should be provided organically and should be harmonized in order to be effective, both among the donors and among the recipients, he said.
Lithuania’s transition experience could be useful to Eastern Partnership countries such as Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, said Lithuanian Deputy Foreign Minister Neris Germanas. Lithuania has realized more than 200 projects in Afghanistan through development cooperation in the last seven years, he said, adding that development community should promote such examples and inform the public about them more.
Choi Jai-chul, Ambassador for Climate Change at the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that South Korea’s growth in the 20th century owned a lot to investments in education. On the other hand, advancing the efficiency and transparency of institutions was accompanied by social development, which resulted in raising the awareness about the burning problem of today – climate changes.
The unwillingness of recipient countries to implement the imposed changes is the reason why the international community is turning towards the concept of partnership, said Croatian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Vesna Pusić. “If the process is one-sided, then it’s not a cooperation but exploitation,” she said, adding that it was necessary to change the view of development assistance as an opportunity for corruption. Most of the international development cooperation actors come from small or medium-sized donors and their importance is impossible to ignore, and social changes can be brought about through modes means as well, Pusić said, stressing that small donors were usually more cautious in allocating the aid and monitoring its implementation, which leads to concrete results.
Moderator:
Lara Romano, former political advisor to the senior civilian representative in Mazar-e-Sharif
Panellists:
Børge Brende, Norwegian Foreign Minister
Edgars Rinkevičs, Latvian Foreign Minister
Nikola Poposki, Macedonian Foreign Minister
Abdoulaye Diop, Malian Foreign Minister
Hashim Thaçi, Kosovar Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister
Neris Germanas, Lithuanian Deputy Foreign Minister
Choi Jai Chul, Ambassador for Climate Change, South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Vesna Pusić, Croatian First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs