Feb 1st, 2012 4:33 PM UTC
By Friederike Roder
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In three weeks, the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance will enter into force, five years after its official adoption by the African Union (AU). Cameroon’s recent ratification bumps the approval number to 15 member states — enough to make the Charter legally binding and operational. Why should we bother with this document? Critics cite the fact that it was ratified in majority by countries that don’t lead by example in terms of good governance. Others say that it might be just another paper tiger without any teeth, joining the stacks of legal documents that don’t change anything in the lives of real African citizens.
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Nov 17th, 2011 9:54 AM UTC
By Friederike Roder
Photo credit: Wikimedia
Weeks of advocacy work, thousands of petition signatures, an influx to Cannes of the most important heads of state and activists from around the world, press conferences, sleepless nights… and all this against the backdrop of the Greek tragedy: this was this year’s G20 summit. But in the end, what came out of it? Was it another talk shop or will it spell major changes for the poorest in the world?
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May 31st, 2011 4:30 PM UTC
By Friederike Roder
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Jose W. Fernandez, assistant secretary of economic, energy and business affairs at the US State Department, talks to ONE in honor of the OECD’s 50th anniversary in this exclusive interview.
The US is launching a new DF4D program. Could you tell us more about it?
President Obama announced the new DF4D initiative this past March during his trip to El Salvador and Secretary Clinton will speak to the basic components of DF4D at the OECD ministerial conference today [26 May]. Briefly, DF4D represents the United States government’s combined and elevated focus on three separate, but mutually reinforcing areas of its development agenda: enabling developing countries to self-finance more of their own needs or “domestic revenue mobilization,” improving fiscal/budgeting transparency, and fighting corruption.
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May 24th, 2011 7:30 PM UTC
By Friederike Roder
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Brian Atwood, chair of the DAC-OECD and former head of USAID, looks back at five decades of international development in honor of the OECD’s 50th anniversary in this exclusive interview with ONE.
What is the one thing with which the DAC has changed the face of development over the last 50 years?
The DAC has been a part of the evolution of development thinking over those fifty years and there have been many paradigm shifts during that period. One was the report “Shaping the 21st Century” written by the DAC in the 1990s. With that, the DAC moved from just exclusively looking at volume issues –- the 0.7 percent and other volume targets -– to goals. The development goals were then adopted by the G8 and eventually by the UN.
With the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the Accra Action Agenda, we have engraved in stone principles such as local ownership, being more predictable and transparent and trying to harmonize our activities. All of these principles define “development cooperation.” The DAC is no longer responsible for a one-dimensional relationship called aid, which in my mind smacks of charity and gives the impression that developing countries are the ailing partner and need help. We’re in this together.
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May 20th, 2011 3:08 PM UTC
By Friederike Roder
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We have another new face on the ONE Blog, Friederike Röder. She is ONE France’s new policy manager and we are very excited to have her on board. Say hi in the comments below!
Following the tradition started last year at the G8 in Canada, this year’s French presidency prepared an accountability report together with the other G8 countries, which outlines the state of delivery and results of the G8’s commitments on fighting extreme poverty.
Let’s start with the positives: it is commendable that the G8 continues with preparing such reports. Great promises are one thing, but keeping them and proving to have kept them is equally important. This is exactly what ONE has been saying for years (and showing the example for) with the DATA report.
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