Autor: ALOP
Este número del "Reality Check - América Latina" ha sido preparado especialmente por ALOP como contribución desde América Latina a los debates sobre la Declaración de ParÃs y la Eficacia de la Ayuda al Desarrollo. Reúne una serie de materiales que abordan varias de estas cuestiones desde la perspectiva de organizaciones sociales que trabajan y analizan la cooperación al desarrollo en la región. En especial, este número presenta:
1. Los resultados del trabajo de campo realizado por ALOP sobre algunos casos de la cooperación oficial de la Unión Europea en varios paÃses de la región.
2. Un análisis de algunas de las dificultades que se enfrentan para lograr una verdadera apropiación democrática de la cooperación en la región.
3. La demanda de un rol más activo para las organizaciones de la sociedad civil como actor clave de la arquitectura y el quehacer de la cooperación al desarrollo.
4. Una propuesta polÃtica para entender a la cooperación al desarrollo como un nuevo "bien público global".
El boletÃn completo puede leerse en Español o Inglés.
By Nuria Molina and Javier Pereira
[ExecutiveSummary]: Faced with strong criticism for its expansive and erroneous use of conditionality, and in the wake of a financial crisis, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved in 2002 a set of guidelines to inform its use of structural conditionality. The Conditionality Guidelines committed the Fund to reduce the overall number of conditions attached to Fund lending and ensure that those attached respected and were drawn from nationally developed poverty plans in recognitions that developing country ownership is instrumental for successful development.
This report looks at the effectiveness of the Conditionality Guidelines in reforming IMF conditionality during the five years since the Guidelines were approved. Based on IMF figures, Eurodad examines the share of Fund structural conditions which prescribe highly sensitive and intrusive policy reforms.
This report analyses the IMF’s own figures to demonstrate that no further progress has been made since 2004, and casts serious doubts about the genuine commitment of the institution to streamlining its structural conditionality and speed up the application of their own conditionality policy. Faced with in-depth structural reforms of its own, the Fund should take this opportunity to speed up implementation of their Conditionality Guidelines and take further steps in the streamlining initiative.
To read the full report, click here
By LATINIDADD
El presente artÃculo hace una revisión de la cooperación internacional haciendo referencia a la calidad, cantidad y modalidad de la ayuda extranjera. El artÃculo enfatiza que aunque se han dado algunos pasos, todavÃa la cantidad y la calidad de la ayuda están muy lejos de ser suficientes para alcanzar los ODM y otras metas sociales y de desarrollo. Asimismo, la ayuda para el desarrollo se ha estado dando principalmente en forma de alivio de deuda y no como una transferencia de recursos frescos.
Para leer el documento completo, haga click aquÃ
By Bill Morton
This article underlines the importance of the meeting in establishing a Forum that is led by Southern CSOs and that is focused on influencing aid policy. It also refers to some of the presentations on ownership and conditionality that were made at the workshop.
You will find this article on page 8 of the Review Newsletter from The North-South Institute.
To read the full article, click here
By Professor Arthur Mutambara
In this article Professor Arthur Mutambara stresses that despite the stated intention to assist the poor economies; ostensibly most foreign aid benefits the donor countries. The modus operandi has been that the rich West provides financial assistance or loans to poor nations to engage Western consultants or institutions to carry out unsustainable and useless projects on the continent.
While he admits that there has been abuse, incompetence, and corruption by recipients, these constitute a second order challenge. The problem is that aid and debt have become a control mechanism to ensure that oil, minerals and other natural resources were channelled to serve the interests of Western economies
Instead, aid should aim to build stronger domestic institutions and transfer skills to local leaders, managers and entrepreneurs. There has to be close alignment of aid with national priorities, working hand in glove with African institutions. This approach stresses the effectiveness of aid as transitory support, avoiding long-term dependence.
To read the full article, click here
By Javier Gomez Aguilar and Juan Luis Espada Vedia
Just over six years since this Monterrey Consensus (MC), only weak and limited results have been achieved, given that the Millennium Development Goals are far from being reached by 2010 and that the financial fragility and vulnerability of our countries has again been brought to light in the last few years. This is made even more notorious due to the economic disturbances generated by the bigger world economies. Within this framework, it is important to note that the MC actions are not based on principals or axes which differ from the current development model. Neither does the mobility of resources that the MC promotes prioritize the financial strengthening of our States for their autonomous management. Rather they aim to generate conditions so as these States are receptors of transnational capital and that the “goodness†of international trade only deepens economic and social concentration and differentiation.
This article explores the economic model in Latin America and the mechanism for the mobilization of internal resource and international financial resources. It also presents critics and recommendations around issues related with International Aid, Debt, International trade and the Reform of the international financial system.
To read the full paper, click here
Para leer el documento en Español haga click aquÃ
Autor: Dr Oscar Ugarteche
La arquitectura financiera internacional está sufriendo cambios importantes. Hay debates que se llevan a cabo en Asia y América Latina, además de Europa y medio oriente, sobre la importancia y relevancia de las instituciones financieras regionales dada la debilidad del dólar norteamericano, la inutilidad de las instituciones financieras internacionales (IFIs) y la muy urgente necesidad de tener instituciones más cercanas a la población, más democráticas y transparentes, y que estén menos sujetas a las agendas de un gobierno.
Para algunos es un complemento para las IFIs, para otros es un cambio de rumbo. La evidencia apunta en la dirección de un gran cambio alejándose de las instituciones centradas en Washington que se han debilitado, perdido ingresos, credibilidad y legitimidad.
El autor hace una revisión de las más relevantes iniciativas que aparecieron como alternativa a las IFIs: la Iniciativa Chiang Mai en Asia, el Banco del Sur y las propuestas de regionalización en Latino América y la ampliación de la Unión Europea
To read the full paper, click here
Autor: LATINIDAD
Este artÃculo analiza la aplicación del Consenso de Monterrey en el contexto de Latino América. En particular, sostiene que si bien el servicio de deuda se redujo ligeramente a inicios de la iniciativa HIPC, el impacto no fue mayor, la deuda externa volvió a incrementarse. A su vez, uno de los principales impactos de las condonaciones es el encarecimiento del nuevo financiamiento externo y la menor disponibilidad de las ventanillas concesionales. Esto se agrava aún más si consideramos que los paÃses están acudiendo además a otro tipo de endeudamiento: la deuda interna.
En este sentido, la aseveración sobre la “sostenibilidad†de deuda que los paÃses han alcanzado no es totalmente cierta. Por un lado, porque no se está considerando toda la deuda; y por otro lado, no es suficiente porque no mide la capacidad de cubrir la deuda social con la población.
El artÃculo sostiene que la implementación del Consenso de Monterrey aun tiene brechas importantes que cubrir, compromisos que asumir y transformaciones a realizar, de acuerdo a los nuevos roles de algunos organismos financieros internacionales, e impulsando los cambios hacia una arquitectura financiera justa.
Para leer el artÃculo completo, haga click aquÃ
By DACnews- Ideas on Aid, OECD
The Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF) will set the stage for several meetings that will be critical to achieving development goals
This last DACnews before the HLF offers an insider’s view of many of the issues that will be shaping the discussions there. What are the priorities being decided on by donors and developing countries as they shape the Accra Agenda for Action? What is the latest monitoring survey telling us about progress since 2005? Where do donors need to step up their efforts?
Articles include:
• Gearing up for Accra: Setting a new agenda for action
• Effective aid by 2010: What it will take
• Is aid going where it is needed most?
• Actions for Accra: The DAC High Level Meeting
• Food prices: More room for change
• Feature article: International aid in transition
To read the full journal, click here
By Vitalice Meja
In this article, the author comments on the current situation regarding the Overseas Development Assistance (ODA). On the one hand, he states that rich countries continue to use financial co-operation as a source of power to override national democratic systems in recipient developing countries, having a negative impact on the sovereignty of national governments. On the other hand, he presents doubts on the Paris declaration as the main instrument for reforming aid effectiveness since it is predominantly OECD driven and its failure to put human rights, gender equality, and sustainable development at the heart of heart of development co-operation.
Finally, he provides comments on the emerging challenges on Financing for Development (FfD) and recommendations on which the outcomes from Doha should be.
