Development Cooperation Must Become More Equitable, Impactful, Country-Led, Speakers Stress as Biannual Forum Concludes
Development cooperation must not retreat when the world needs it the most; rather, it must become more equitable, impactful and country-led, the biannual Forum on that topic heard today.
The Development Cooperation Forum, convened by the Economic and Social Council every two years, provides a global platform for development actors across the spectrum to discuss policy and analyse progress. This year’s Forum is focused on “Transforming international development cooperation: from global dialogue to action”.
“We cannot give up; we must not retreat,” Bob Rae (Canada), President of the Economic and Social Council, said, as the Forum concluded after two days of meetings on a wide variety of topics. He noted the uncertain economic atmosphere against which the Forum was taking place — capital responds to certainty and security, and without certainty, it's difficult to invest. Despite that, over the last two days of conversations, “a remarkable consensus” had emerged — there is willingness to transform development cooperation to ensure that it has a tangible and lasting impact, he said.
“We agreed that we need to rebuild trust, to shoulder our commitments,” he added, noting that development cooperation must be reliable, predictable and tailored to needs. The Forum also focused on how to improve cooperation modalities. “We recognized that changes in donor priorities should not overshadow the fundamental objectives pursued by development cooperation”, such as poverty reduction, economic growth and institutional capacity-building, he pointed out. The Forum also explored “measures to ensure that countries are in the driver’s seat” and addressed the need to reform global development cooperation architecture.
Build on Momentum for Deep Structural Change Ahead of International Financing for Development Conference
Approaching the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, to be held in Seville at the end of June, “we must build on this momentum” to push for deeper structural changes, he said. Noting that many countries, such as India and China, emerged from the deepest conflict and poverty to become drivers of economic and social change, he said that while development assistance played some role in this, it happened because Governments in those countries decided “to make economic growth, sustainable development, innovation and change the heart of their economic project”. The international community must learn from these success stories and apply their lessons with greater decisiveness and discipline.
However, some institutional mechanisms and approaches “are pretty ossified and […] bureaucratic”, he said, adding: “Frankly, the public mood is ‘no, that's not good enough, we want change’”. Both donor countries and developing countries are asking for change, but the challenge is that the changes are not matching. Some countries are making decisions based entirely on an internal conversation, “and suddenly they announce whatever the hell they're going to do”, he said. Stressing the need for mutual responsibility and solidarity, he added: “Those of us who believe in what we're doing here have to keep fighting.”
Strengthening Country-led Coordination
Prior to closing, the Forum held a panel on “Strengthening country-led coordination”, chaired by Lok Bahadur Thapa (Nepal), Vice President of the Economic and Social Council, and moderated by Dima Al-Khatib, Director of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation.
Speakers Push for Focus on Strategic Planning, Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue and Stronger Institutional Capacity
Olaya Dotel Caraballo, Vice Minister of International Cooperation of the Dominican Republic, highlighting her country’s experience, stressed the need to receive information in a timely fashion from international partners and the private sector. “We need coordination based on strategic planning, multi-stakeholder dialogue and strengthening institutional capacities,” she said, underscoring the need for a detailed diagnosis of the country's situation, its context, development challenges and priorities. Highlighting various mechanisms the Dominican Republic has put in place to ensure this, she detailed a five-year process of workshops and local consultations — the insights of which become part of a framework document when working with international development partners.
Given that the Dominican Republic is a small island developing State, she said, it is vital to implement “spaces for coordination and prioritization” such as formal strategic dialogue mechanisms to promote horizontal collaboration. This ensures that international resources are channeled towards the most important strategic areas. The strategic plan establishing priorities “has allowed us to sit down with those who are helping us out and ensure that we have agreements which deliver what we need in terms of cooperation,” she said.
“It's impossible to have cookie-cutter solutions to joint challenges”, Sergio Colina Martín, Director-General for Sustainable Development Policies of Spain, said, noting that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development offers a shared road map to build fairer and more equitable societies. Underscoring the need to return “to the principles of efficiency”, he highlighted various tools that his country is using to address that. Spain’s planning instruments are highly structured and seek to integrate policy dialogue, cooperation and outcome management “so that we are mutually accountable”, he said.
This also means differentiated strategies in tune with different countries’ needs and characteristics, he added. In some cases, countries need budgetary support while others require stronger technical cooperation. He also pointed to the vital role of regional and local Governments as key service providers. Civil society is also pertinent in ensuring decentralized efforts. Also highlighting the importance of predictable planning, he said Spain focuses on key areas of joint action which go above and beyond small changes and which are not limited to electoral cycles. The upcoming financing for development conference that his country is hosting in July will be a historic opportunity to launch a transformative agenda on that theme, he stressed.
Insufficiently Coordinated Support for Earthquake in Vanuatu Illustrates Need for Better Alignment
Noah Patrick Kouback, Director-General in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and External Trade of Vanuatu, recalled the earthquake that took place in his country in December 2024. The capital city was closed for the last three months and “we are still in the process of recovery”, he said. He outlined various disaster management, recovery and resilience policies and plans set up in the aftermath of the earthquake. “That was my first disaster” in his official capacity, he said, adding: “I've seen a lot of support coming in, but it's not well-coordinated”. It goes through different entities, and because it is not coming in through Government machineries, “I cannot even respond back to partners to say that yes, the Government has received that”, he said.
“We don't even know where those resources went,” he said; in the meantime, there are children still studying in tents. This illustrates the need for complementarity, coordination and proper alignment with national priorities. Regional cooperation is another crucial aspect, he said, highlighting the Pacific Resilience Facility and the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Company. Regional leaders decided to establish these because of the complexities of accessing climate funding. After the earthquake, “they came with a check of $1.2 million dollars just to help with emergency relief”, he said, expressing gratitude to “our sisters and brothers from the Pacific”.
Stronger Coherence of International Development Cooperation Vital to Make It Fit for Purpose
A second panel discussion held this morning focused on “Strengthening the coherence of international development cooperation to make it fit for purpose”. Chaired by Bob Rae, President of the Council, it was moderated by Navid Hanif, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
The panelists included Eleonore Caroit, Member of the National Assembly of France; Susanna Gable, Deputy Director, Development Policy and Finance, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Jennifer del Rosario-Malonzo, Executive Director, IBON International, and Bayo Oyewole, Senior Adviser, African Center for Economic Transformation.