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MDG : Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Armida Alisjahbana and Andrew Mitchell on the post-Busan panel
The UK's Andrew Mitchell will be joined on the post-Busan panel by Indonesia's Armida Alisjahbana and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria. Photograph: Getty Images
The UK's Andrew Mitchell will be joined on the post-Busan panel by Indonesia's Armida Alisjahbana and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria. Photograph: Getty Images

Nigerian and Indonesian officials join post-Busan aid effectiveness panel

This article is more than 11 years old
Ministerial duo of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Armida Alisjahbana will line up alongside UK development secretary Andrew Mitchell

Senior officials from Nigeria and Indonesia will join Andrew Mitchell, the UK international development secretary, on a panel on development effectiveness bringing together traditional aid donors, developing countries and emerging economies.

Armida Alisjahbana, Indonesia's planning minister, and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria's finance minister, complete the panel lineup, which is a direct outcome of the fourth high-level forum on aid effectiveness in Busan, South Korea, last December.

Busan sought to bring in key aid players from the global south – Brazil, India and China – and set out a common framework on aid effectiveness, particularly in relation to governance and transparency. The new panel is the linchpin of the new global partnership on development co-operation, moving away from the model dominated by the group of industrialised countries that comprise the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) development assistance committee.

A political body, the global partnership's role is to maintain the momentum for more effective development co-operation and ensure accountability for implementing the commitments agreed at Busan. The important caveat at Busan was that the participation of emerging economies should be on a voluntary basis.

The partnership, which is expected to work with the UN Development Co-operation Forum and the G20 group of industrialised countries, is to hold ministerial-level meetings every 18 to 24 months. The panel will be backed up by a steering committee of 18 members that will act as the "glue" between the global partnership and the networks of aid recipients.

As expected, Brazil, India and China – the big three emerging economies – are keeping their distance from the global partnership. There will be no one from the trio on the steering committee. OECD officials say the three want to stay on the sidelines for the time being to see how the global partnership develops. Some African countries, including Rwanda, have criticised the likes of China for taking an arm's-length approach.

While Rwanda is in favour of south-south co-operation, it also thinks the new donors should be subjected to the same principles of transparency and untied aid as traditional donors.

The global partnership will involve a greater role for the UN Development Programme, which will combine its wide reach and on-the-ground knowledge with the OECD's strength on data and analysis.

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