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The delegation of the Canadian Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (C.P.A.), was composed of Senator David Smith, P.C., and Senator Nancy Ruth. The conference was sponsored by the U.K. branch of the C.P.A. and was held in one of the buildings of the U.K. Parliament at Westminster. Part I of the conference focused on scrutinising five areas of Aid Effectiveness which were identified in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness in 2005. 1. Ownership. Partner countries exercise effective leadership over their development policies and strategies, and coordinate development actions. 2. Alignment. Donors base their overall support on partner countries’ national development strategies, institutions and procedures. 3. Harmonisation. Donors’ actions are more harmonised, transparent and collectively effective. 4. Managing for Results. Managing resources and improving decision-making for results. 5. Mutual Accountability. Donors and partners are accountable for development results. These were reaffirmed at the High Level Forum held in Accra in September 2008 with overarching commitments to: 1. Predictability. Donors will provide 3-5 year forward information on their planned aid to partner countries. 2. Country Systems. Partner country systems will be used to deliver aid as the first option, rather than donor systems. 3. Conditionality. Donors will switch from reliance on prescriptive conditions about how and when aid money is spent to conditions based on the developing country’s own development objectives. 4. Untying. Donors will relax restrictions that prevent developing countries from buying the goods and services they need from whomever and wherever they can get the best quality at the lowest price. Part II focused on Opportunities for Parliamentarians to Scrutinise the Effectiveness of Aid Policy. There are many different ways Members of Parliament can press governments on: · Adherence to promises made in the Paris Declaration and reaffirmed in Accra · Accurate monitoring and evaluation of development indicators · Increased participation from the different development stakeholders · Combating aid corruption through regional initiatives · Mutual accountability, transparency and responsibility of aid received and allocated. The role of a Member can be split into three parts: · Scrutiny · Legislative work · Representation – in the constituency Senator Nancy Ruth was on the working committee that was given the responsibility of drafting a statement regarding the conclusion of the delegates. After 5 days of meetings, with a number of highly qualified speakers, as well as focus groups, the following statement was agreed upon: 1. We, the 90 parliamentarians from 41 parliaments and legislatures met at the Houses of Parliament in London on 17-21 November 2008 for a unique conference on International Development: Scrutinising Aid Effectiveness”. Our purpose was to determine how better we might hold our Executives to account for development funds given, received and allocated. 2. We welcome the initiatives to bring together international legislators from the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the G8+5, Regional Parliaments and Small Countries to share experiences, knowledge and develop shared understanding. 3. Following the High Level Forum in Accra in September 2008 and the adoption of the Accra Agenda for Action, we understand that although progress is being made towards the 2010 commitments and targets, we must ensure that our Executives strive to fulfill their commitments made in the 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. 4. One in four people in the developing world, 1.4 billion people (of whom 70% are women and girls) live on less than US$1.25 a day. We consider it vital that aid given and received is used effectively. We believe that effective use of aid is essential if the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) are to be achieved by 2015. We believe that MDG progress reports should include empirical evidence and translate gender analysis into budget planning. 5. As representatives of 41 parliaments and legislatures, we strongly urge our Executives: • To adhere to promises made in the Paris Declaration – reaffirmed in Accra, to improve ownership, alignment, harmonisation, the managing for results and mutual accountability as set in the 2010 targets and to remember that the purpose of these technical structures is to alleviate poverty for everyone, including women and children • To ensure that there is sufficient monitoring and evaluation of progress towards the targets set in the 2005 Paris Declaration and the MDG, and effective communication between the several development partners • To encourage inter-region links and communications to share monitoring and research capabilities • To increase the involvement of parliamentarians in policy making and monitoring of aid and the budget process • To promote the participation of and communication between Civil Society Organisations, Faith-Based Organisations and our constituents in development strategies • To promote and employ transparent and accountable practices including gender disaggregated data within international development and aid frameworks (the two Canadian representatives both believed the word “gender” in the preceding sentence should be replaced by the word “sex”.) • To use their best efforts to reduce the administrative costs of aid thus bringing greater benefits to the recipients • To work assiduously to improve the delivery time of aid 6. In turn we parliamentarians pledge to: • Initiate legislation in our respective countries to implement the Paris Declaration and Accra Agenda for Action, and call on our political leadership to urge implementation of various United Nations conventions, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women • Encourage debate in our legislative bodies, including promoting the formation of international development and overseas aid standing committees, developing legislative aid development plans and strengthening links between parliaments and legislatures • Use our influence and links with political leaders, citizens and the media to raise awareness and highlight the importance of international development, and to improve aid effectiveness by promoting transparency and open dialogue • Fulfill our role as local development leaders in our constituencies by advocating the development needs of our constituents and encouraging participation in development initiatives among local governments and communities • Undertake an active role within international development and the scrutiny of aid effectiveness by formulating development policies, forming effective partnerships with development stakeholders and assessing aid effectiveness 7. Furthermore, we pledge to: • Work for a renewed partnership between donor and partner countries to transform aid and international development policies so that aid given and received is spent effectively and contributes to the alleviation of poverty throughout the world and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals • Urge our Executives to propose that the UN starts discussion towards proposing a UN Convention on Aid Effectiveness SUBMITTED by Senator David Smith in consultation with Senator Nancy Ruth.
Respectfully submitted,
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