01 December 2011

The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) as a programme of the African Union, have called for stronger recognition of the vital role of regional platforms and organizations in enhancing links between country priorities and global efforts for effective development cooperation.

In a joint statement issued by both regional organizations at the end of a jointly organised Side Event at the 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF4), in Busan, Republic of Korea, PIFS and NEPAD said they “acknowledge the opportunity to forge a new way forward and the need to bring leadership and ownership of the global partnership closer to developing countries.”

“To this end, we recognize regional platforms backed by political leadership as agents of consensus building between sovereign states for effective development cooperation, commensurate to national and regional conditions,” the joint PIFS NEPAD statement stated.

In a letter conveying the joint statement to coordinators of the HLF4, Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Tuiloma Neroni Slade and the Chief Executive Officer of NEPAD, Dr Ibrahim Assane Mayaki said:
“We are inspired by our experiences in developing country-driven and context-sensitive regional platforms for regular dialogue, peer to peer learning and a common voice to development perspectives through the African Platform for Development Effectiveness and the Cairns Compact on Strengthening Development Coordination in the Pacific (Forum Compact). Both institutions are committed to strengthen these initiatives in future.”

The joint coordination of the Side Event at the HLF4 between PIFS and NEPAD has been seen as an excellent example of south-south cooperation in the call for a new Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation, the theme of the Busan high level forum.

During the Side Event, representatives from the Pacific and Africa shared their national, regional and global experiences in coordinating development assistance. Cabinet Ministers from the Pacific included the Cook Islands, Samoa and Solomon Islands, while the African region was represented by Cabinet Ministers from Togo, Uganda and the Secretary General of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). All of whom spoke of their country experiences in aid coordination and accountability, and the implementation of the Forum Compact in the Pacific and the African Platform for Development Effectiveness.

A full text of the Joint Statement of PIFS and NEPAD is follows.

A Joint Statement of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) and the New Partnerships for African Development (NEPAD) of the African Union

1. The call for a new Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation to steer a new direction post-Busan, affirms the progress made since Paris and Accra and lessons learned as the basis to recognise and encompass the diverse expectations and contributions of all development cooperation actors, while maintaining the central focus on supporting developing countries’ capacity to accelerate inclusive economic growth and sustainable development.
2. The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) as the secretariat of the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders and NEPAD as a programme of the African Union, acknowledging the opportunity to forge a new way forward and the need to bring leadership and ownership of the global partnership closer to developing countries, call for stronger recognition of the central role of regional platforms and organizations in forging enhanced links between country priorities and global efforts within the architecture of the new global partnership for effective development cooperation.
3. To this end, we recognize regional platforms backed by political leadership as agents of consensus building between sovereign states for effective development cooperation, commensurate to national and regional conditions. In doing so, we reinforce the centrality of country owned and led priorities and interests as the cornerstone for the implementation of tailored and effective development cooperation action. We acknowledge the immense value of sharing resources, institutions and knowledge in strengthening intra and inter regional cooperation amenable to common needs and priorities of each group of countries. In doing so, we promote regional platforms as a key driver for effective South-South and Triangular Cooperation, in pooling capacities for nationally driven and owned development.
4. The gains made through the African Platform for Development Effectiveness (APDev) and the Cairns Compact on Strengthening Development Coordination in the Pacific (Forum Compact), underscore the importance of regular dialogue, coordination, peer to peer learning and a common voice to development perspectives, strategies, policies and results, focusing on capacity development, development cooperation and South-South Cooperation, towards accelerated achievement of the MDGs.
5. We further recognize regional organizations as an extension of governments’ technical and resource capacities and will be guided by country level priorities or those directed by the political mandates of our Leaders;
6. Against this backdrop, we:
a. support the inclusive nature of the new Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation and propose the inclusion of regional organisations within it, as a key platform for advocacy of common yet differentiated country level perspectives;
b. reiterate the need for development cooperation to pay unequivocal attention to regional integration as part of a calculated political strategy and policy towards stimulating national productive sector growth which leverages on regional benefits and value-chains;
c. call for an explicit inclusion of the regional dimension on development effectiveness, in advancing cross-boundary programmes, particularly infrastructure and trade development, as well as, enhancing productive capacity and competitiveness;
d. acknowledge the important role of regional organisations as conduits for policy coherence in aligning global expectations with country level realities and in particular across the diverse range of development cooperation actors;
e. call for adequate resourcing and support for developing the capacity of regional organisations as fundamental to effectively responding to, and being responsible for national and global commitments;
f. will forge regional consensus on performance standards and indicators to monitor implementation, mutual accountability and results, grounded in countries own development cooperation policies and national development plans;

g. commit, post-Busan, to directly and actively participate in the design of the global monitoring mechanism, based on our region’s unique context and driven by political commitment, to ensure alignment of the emerging global partnership architecture with national and regional structures of development for relevance;

h. will maintain the political focus of development cooperation through regular reporting and dialogue on development cooperation results through regional and international Ministerial and Leaders’ networks; and

i. undertake to make representation on the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation on emerging issues drawn from regional evidence based approaches.

ENDS