On the occasion of the 21st meeting of the Global Partnership Steering Committee, members met virtually for a political dialogue on their vision and objectives for the next ‘GPEDC’ High-Level Meeting (HLM), scheduled for late 2022, and how the work of the 2020-22 Work Programme will help make it a success.
The Committee agreed to be bold in its ambition for the ‘2022 Summit on Development Effectiveness’ to generate strong interest at the political level among stakeholders. Members shared Co-Chairs’ vision to reinvigorate the Global Partnership a decade after Busan by encouraging governments and non-state actors to make the effectiveness principles the norm, not an aspiration, and focus on their implementation amidst changing realities at country level and building back better; so that effectiveness is contributing to sustainability, from the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic to challenges such as growing poverty and inequality, climate change and fragility.
“Working together in a principle-based and evidence-led way, Bangladesh is working with various partners in an inclusive way to make sure we are connected with all actors functioning towards the development of Bangladesh” said Ms. Fatima Yasmin (Co-Chair representative, standing in for the Finance Minister, H.E. Mr Mustafa Kamal).
Members are already starting to gear up their constituencies, and the Busan Forum at the end of 2021 will be an important launching pad for the political engagement process.
The Committee also discussed how the Partnership could contribute to global climate action. Members agreed that lessons on development effectiveness are relevant for climate action, and discussed how they could inform the global debate on country ownership and transparency without duplicating efforts by others.
Since its last meeting at the end of 2020, Steering Committee members have been active in implementing the Work Programme and its Action Areas, responding to constraints related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This has included, for example, the launch of four case studies by the GPEDC Business Leaders’ Caucus on private sector action in different sectors, and announcing the nearly 20 partner countries that have committed to host an Action Dialogue: bringing different types of stakeholders together at country level to address effectiveness issues in an inclusive way, to scale up effective partnerships and make sure no one is left behind.
“We must strive to align resources to real needs on the ground” said H.E. Mr. Christian Nsimba, the new Co-Chair representative for the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Members also received an update on the ongoing Review of the Partnership and discussed next steps, and how to harness its outcomes for political mobilisation in run up to the 2022 HLM. The Review is focusing on improving the GPEDC’s delivery against its agreed mandate (most recently from Nairobi 2016) and its ways of working. Co-Chairs and members will shortly develop a proposal on how to build on the recommendations of the review.
In keeping with the spirit of renewal, members had an in-depth discussion on the reform of the Global Partnership monitoring process and framework. Since the last Committee meeting, Co-Chairs have convened 19 virtual consultations, providing a forum for nearly 170 stakeholders from across constituencies to weigh in on the reform, in order to strengthen accountability and stimulate behaviour change for more effective co-operation. Crafted from these stakeholder inputs, the Committee agreed with Co-Chairs’ proposal for the contours of the new framework. The contours point to a greater focus on tracking efforts to leave no one behind; to more emphasis on tracking actions and behaviours related to collective accountability; and to recognising the importance of transparency at the country level.
Looking ahead, Members reiterated their support to the reform, looking forward to the opportunity to discuss an indicative new monitoring proposal at the next Committee meeting.
For more information on this meeting, please access meeting documents here or reach out to the Secretariat at info@effectivecooperation.org.
Steering Committee meeting summary available here.