Joomla Login LightBox powered by WowJoomla.com

Delegates from across the region gather today to thrash out ways of improving development effectiveness and aid coordination and delivery.
Representatives of Forum Island Countries, member agencies of the Council of Regional Organisations of the Pacific (CROP), and regional Development Partners converge at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat in Suva, Fiji, for the Pacific Island Countries / Development Partners (PIC/Partners) Meeting from 2-3 April. Among topics of discussion will be implications of the global financial crisis and the need to step up efforts to enhance the effectiveness of regional aid. The meeting will also discuss the Pacific's progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals and priorities under the Pacific Plan. "Development effectiveness has been an issue of great significance to the Pacific region for some time," said Forum Secretariat Secretary General, Tuiloma Neroni Slade. "We are aiming to lay the foundation for engagement with donors within a framework of Forum Leader-endorsed regional development priorities. If donors can centre their assistance at the regional level on the common national development needs of member countries, we will have established a mechanism that in itself is an improvement on development effectiveness."
Since 2005, the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness has been endorsed by nine Forum member countries. The 2007 Pacific Principles on Aid Effectiveness were consequently adapted from the Paris Declaration to the Pacific context. Further, the 2008 Accra Agenda for Action has been endorsed by ten Forum member countries. "In 2009, Forum Members are aiming to boost efforts and the urgency with which development effectiveness is being addressed in the region," Mr Slade added. "Forum Leaders will be presented this year with these issues, and their decisions will form the basis for ongoing work in this area."