| OECD celebrates 50th anniversary |
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Commemorating its 50th anniversary, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published a special edition of the 2011 Development Cooperation Report, taking a look at trends in member countries’ development flows over the past 50 years. Bringing together views of different OECD partners in leader positions, the report addresses past and current challenges in development cooperation and provides a future outlook. Reviewing the contributions of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) to development efforts of the last 50 years, former World Bank President James Wolfensohn points to the profound changes the sector is to see in the coming decades. “By 2050, the world’s population will grow to just over nine billion people — most of who will be in developing countries; and by mid-century, ours will be a significantly Asian world in terms of both population and economic strength.” The DAC’s analysis of aid flows and policies will thus be essential to “help facilitate a peaceful adjustment to these changes and promote the possibilities of a more equal and stable world”, he concludes. According to African Development Bank President Donald Kaberuka, Africa has been serving as “a test-bed” for donor countries’ policies and practices that have reflected different priorities over time. If DAC member countries are to successfully pursue their development targets, these have to ensure a process of “dialogue and participation based on true partnership”, he stresses. In her contribution to the report, UN Women director Michelle Bachelet points to the need to include gender equality and women’s empowerment in donor countries’ overall development goals, if poor countries are to be lifted out of poverty. “While official development assistance (ODA) has helped to empower women and girls to fully exercise their rights as equal citizens, pervasive under-investment causes many countries to lag behind on important development goals”, she warns, calling upon donor countries to actively step up their efforts to “effectively remove the barriers that prevent women from realising their full potential”. With regards to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), former DAC chair Richard Manning calls upon DAC countries to consider new development targets that further focus on transport, energy, human rights and empowerment. He also urges donor countries to revise their current aid measurement practices and to rethink the definition of official development flows. “The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is well placed to help steer recovery from the global economic crisis, but to be effective it must become more inclusive and ensure that policy dialogue between non-member countries is a genuine two-way street”, states OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria in the latest issue of Global Policy. If a future financial and economic crisis is to be prevented, more multilateral regulations should be put in place, she believes. The report not only draws on past and future patterns of DAC member countries’ development efforts but includes additional data on the profiles and efforts of DAC member countries published for the first time. These data, listed in the annex of the report, includes Official Development Assistance (ODA) for gender equality, aid flows targeted to meet the UN conventions on sustainable development as well as humanitarian aid. For an overview of the data click here: OECD Read the full report here: OECD Read the executive summary here: OECD (pdf) Sources:  |
