In 2011, leaders from the developed and developing nations signed an accord in Busan, South Korea to further enhance the implementation of Millennium Development Goal 8 (MDG 8); and in particular the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC). The Busan commitments were meant to take development cooperation and aid effectiveness beyond the 2005 Paris Declaration ushering in a new phase in poverty eradication. The GPEDC more commonly associated with MDG 8 is about building partnerships and harnessing resources for the poorest countries in order to support their development and movement out of poverty.
In the first quarter of 2014, Development Initiatives (DI), on behalf of the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), undertook a series of studies on the implementation of the GPEDC based on the Busan commitments of 2011. DI surveyed four sub-Saharan African countries on their perception and implementation of the GPEDC. The countries were Burundi, Ghana, Kenya, and Mozambique. In addition, the studies sought to understand the role of the GPEDC in an ever changing global context and this especially in view of the post-2015 development framework that is being considered and developed.
The key findings from the all the studies include:
- The Global Partnership has served as a galvanising tool for multi-stakeholder collaboration in a number of countries, notwithstanding the differences in political, economic or other contextual factors. The motivation that has been provided by the Millennium Development Goals, coupled with global campaigns whose sole aim has been to ‘end poverty’ has not only spurred the wide variety of countries (developing and developed) to seek common solutions, but has also started a process that has brought in a wider array of players, including the private sector, civil society organisations, as well as others.
- Membership of the GPEDC makes a difference. It doesn’t seem to make that much of a difference if a country is highly or not highly dependent on aid. Good and effective coordination for an effective partnership helps in both situations as exemplified by both Kenya with low aid dependence and Mozambique with relatively high dependence.
As part of sharing the experiences of the case study countries and getting opinion on how to make the GPEDC more effective and relevant to Sub-Saharan Africa, DI’s Africa Hub will be conducting a series of dissemination meetings in Kenya, Mozambique and Ghana. Further details can be found here: devinit.org/events/
Click here to read the Kenya case study.
Case studies for Burundi, Ghana, and Mozambique will be available soon.
For more information please contact: Davis Adieno, Jason Braganza, and Kenneth Okwaroh at DI’s Africa Hub.
