Citizens must be at the centre of effective aid

Dear friends and colleagues,

In just a few days, hundreds of representatives of multilateral and bilateral donor agencies, of developed and developing country governments and of civil society organisations will gather in Accra, Ghana, for a unique opportunity. We will all attend the Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF3), organised by the OECD-DAC (Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development).  

Just prior to the forum, on 31 August and 1 September, a Civil Society Parallel Forum will bring together more than 400 civil society organisations from around the world, to discuss and finalise our recommendations to the decision-makers at the HLF3. CIVICUS has been an engaged actor in the process leading to Ghana, and will be an active participant at both, the Civil Society Forum and the HLF itself.  

The road to Ghana has been facilitated by a CSO International Steering Group (ISG), an expert group that includes networks and organisations from different sectors and geographical contexts. Since the Paris Declaration was signed in 2005, the ISG, of which CIVICUS is a part, has organised several seminars and workshops at all levels, to disseminate the issues and to involve other organisations in the process. The ISG has also put continuous pressure on the OECD to ensure diverse and regional representation at the meetings of the Working Party on aid effectiveness in Paris in 2007 and in 2008. The website www.betteraid.org has been an important reference for all actors to stay informed of the process and to receive relevant information.  

For CIVICUS, CSO participation in the Accra HLF3 is an important step in the right direction to ensure meaningful discussions and measures for real aid effectiveness. We will go to Accra with that mission in mind and focussing on our goals for the next multi-stakeholder declaration on aid, which will be negotiated between 2008 and 2011. 

The reality of aid today
We all know that aid is only one part of the equation, but that it can make a difference. At its best, aid can help to fight disease, educate children, lift people out of poverty and help them to realise their human rights. But at its worst, aid can also do harm. Aid subsidies to donor-aligned companies and aid-supported dictatorships are just two ways in which aid has been used to serve the interests of the rich and powerful, rather than those of the poor and vulnerable. Much food aid, for example, provides more assistance to Northern farmers and Northern transport companies than to hungry people in developing countries.  

Between these two extremes is the debate on aid effectiveness. We know why so much aid does not work for poor people, and what needs to be done. But action by both donors and recipients to change their policies and practices has been shamefully slow.   

At the heart of many of these problems is a lack of accountability and transparency. There is not enough reliable and timely public information about aid flows, policies and conditions associated with them, donor performance and outcomes for poor people. There are also insufficient mechanisms for poor people to make their voices heard and to participate in decision making. This makes it very difficult for citizens to hold governments in donor and recipient countries to account.  

Poor and vulnerable people need democratic and effective states to represent their interests and protect their human rights. Aid relationships must be based on democratic ownership at the country level. 

Citizens must be at the centre of effective aid
Our vision is of a world where aid is no longer needed; where poverty is no longer a daily reality for billions of women, men and children; where global resources are fairly distributed; where social and gender inequalities are ended; where effective democratic states deliver the needs and rights of their people; and where global public goods including environmental sustainability are secured by effective and representative international institutions.  

We believe that aid can play an important role in moving us towards this vision, and that more aid is urgently needed to respond to the scale of the challenges of poverty and inequality. But this must happen in conjunction with better quality aid. Citizens must be at the centre of effective aid, which supports the realisation of human rights, gender equality, environmental sustainability and decent work. Aid needs to support democratic accountability between citizens of recipient countries and their governments and must not be used to impose policy conditions. It needs to be transparent. The aid system should be evaluated and reformed through open and representative international institutions and processes.

We hope that Accra will be a turning point in moving towards more effective aid, and will deliver real results. We stand together, representatives of the South and the North, calling on our political leaders to take urgent action. Millions of people from around the world will be taking part in actions over the next 50 days to call for an end to poverty and inequality - let Accra be a sign that our leaders join them in standing up for, and delivering, a world without poverty and inequality.

With gratitude, faith and solidarity,

Anabel Cruz and Ingrid Srinath,

CIVICUS Secretary General 

To send your comments, suggestions or contributions of articles to e-CIVICUS, e-mail editor@civicus.org.

For previous articles from the Secretary General, see details below: 

. Disabling by Design? - The Ethiopian Charities and Societies Proclamation

. China: Double double talk

. View from civil society: Key political challenges for social justice in Africa

. What now, Mr. Lamy?

. "If CIVICUS didn’t exist, we’d have to invent it"

. Beyond G-8: At the table? On the table? Whose table?

. Beyond G-8: Civil society challenges

. Recalling the Day of the African child

. CIVICUS 2008 World Assembly, a unique opportunity to effect real change

. CIVICUS new Secretary General appointed. 

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