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Viet Nam plays prominent role at High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra, Ghana

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Participants at the Accra forum on aid effectivenessMinisters from over 100 countries, heads of bilateral and multilateral development agencies, donor organizations, and civil society organizations from around the world gathered in Accra, Ghana for the Third High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness during 2-4 September. Their common objective was to help developing countries and marginalized people in their fight against poverty by making aid more transparent, accountable and results-oriented.

Viet Nam, a strong supporter of aid effectiveness, played a key role at the event. The Vietnamese delegation was headed by Vice Minister of Planning and Investment Cao Viet Sinh, who opened the main session together with Ms Ann Venneman, Executive Director for UNICEF.
Vice Minister Sinh was also a panelist in the Round Table 5 (Making Mutual Accountability Real) and in Round Table 9 (The Changing Aid Architecture). Key messages of the Vietnamese Government included calls for a firm commitment to implementation of the Paris Declaration by all countries; more predictable aid; and more attention to the South-South and “triangular” cooperation and partnership.  

Dr. Ho Quang Minh, Director General of MPI, participated in the “Speakers Corner” session where a video was shown on the One UN Initiative in Viet Nam, followed by 40 minutes of questions and answers. The video highlighted progress made with the One UN Initiative in Viet Nam, including with the “5 Ones” and various inter-agency programmes such as the Joint Programmes on Kon Tum, Avian Influenza and HIV.  It also featured interviews with Viet Nam government officials, who spoke of the important partnership with the UN, and their support for the One UN Initiative.

During the conference there was a strong call for a more coordination among donors. In this context, Viet Nam was referred to on several occasions as an example of the burden on Government of donor missions: there were more than 700 donor missions to Viet Nam in 2007.

UN Reform was a prominent topic during the session on “The Relevance and Urgency of Aid Reform” that included the participation of Kemal Dervis, UNDP Administrator, Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank, and the President of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.  It was agreed that UN Reform has made initial but important progress and needed more support from donors.

At the end of three days of intense negotiations, developed and developing countries agreed to take steps to reform the way aid is given and spent – and they endorsed the Accra Agenda for Action. Key points agreed in the Accra Agenda for Action include:

  • Predictability – donors will provide 3-5 year forward information on their planned aid to partner countries.
  • Country systems – partner country systems will be used to deliver aid as the first option, rather than donor systems.
  • 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.
  • 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.


Click here for the full text of the Accra Agenda for Action, or go to: www.accrahlf.net

See also the Statement by Kemal Dervis, Chair of the United Nations Develompment Group and Administrator of UNDP below.  
 
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We must not wait to implement Accra commitments.

Accra, Ghana – Sept. 4, 2008

We are happy that the discussions in Accra went beyond aid quality and addressed the development context and the catalytic role of aid. We should not lose sight of our development objectives. We must achieve the Millennium Development Goals and make a difference in the lives of poor people.

The Accra Agenda for Action calls for an urgent response: we must follow through on these commitments. We cannot wait. Additionally, we cannot make compromises on the urgency to address the climate change and food crises. The United Nations Development Group stands ready to support all efforts in this regard.

We call on the member states to deliver on the promises made today. The commitment and urgency with which these promises have been made must be carried forward to the High-Level Event on the Millennium Development Goals later this month, and the Doha Financing for Development Review Conference at the end of November. These opportunities do not come every day, or indeed every year. This is the year not only of commitments, but of action through better quality aid, more development resources and visible results.

For more information, please contact: Stephanie Savariaud, ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )