Policy Brief on Development Cooperation

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1 3 / 2012 Policy Brief on Development Cooperation Policy Coherence for Development Perspectives from member state(s) Jan Doležal, Petr Lebeda In his last book Obor a trpaslík. Slováci, Češi a perspektívy Afriky (Giant and Dwarf. Slovaks, Czechs and Perspectives of Africa), Juraj Mesík offers recipes on how to make SlovakAid more effective. Among other things, he rightly points out that (financial) development cooperation is only one of many development interventions the more developed countries realize in poor countries. Without explicitly mentioning Policy Coherence for Development (PCD) the story goes into the heart of today's development debates. The key questions include: What is the impact of trade liberalisation in developing countries? What are the effects of our migration, security or environmental policies in the South? What is the role of private companies with respect to environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive development in the South? What is the track record of Slovakia and other countries in our region? 1 More explicit is the actual European AidWatch Report 2012, one of the recommendations for Slovakia is to engage in the Policy Coherence for Development agenda 2. The short article, which follows, introduces the Policy Coherence for Development debate, briefly describes current state of play in particular on the European Union level, presents various experiences in progress towards coherence in member states and gives a handful of general recommendations on how to start and deepen the debate on PCD in Slovakia. This contribution builds on the understanding of PCD in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the EU, in the academia and NGO community and also on current civil society experiences with enhancing Policy Coherence for Development in the Czech Republic. 1. What is Policy Coherence for Development? PCD is not a new concept and it has a firm position in the development discourse and donors community of both the OECD 3 and the EU 4. EU's development cooperation supports developing countries in their poverty eradication efforts and promotion of human rights and sustainability. However, neither increased aid budgets, nor aid effectiveness can fulfil development goals on their own. Many other (non-aid) policies of developed countries and the EU in particular have important consequences (both positive and negative) in poor countries, too. This is the basis for the concept of Policy Coherence for Development (PCD). What the EU understands by this notion is that external impacts of EU policies do not undermine the aims of EU development cooperation. As put by CONCORD, platform of development NGOs in 2009 report: Coherence is simply common sense 5. Unfortunately this is not what always happens. The EU with its right hand supports farmers and livestock holders in Africa, while with its left hand it undermines their livelihoods by creating unfair competition through heavy support for EU farmers. Biofuel policy can enhance rural development in Europe and might strengthen EU energy security, but at the same time increases food insecurity in the world and contributes to land grabs and deforestation. General idea of policies to be designed coherent and complementary is simple, but too often hard to achieve. 1 Mesík, Juraj, Obor a trpaslík. Slováci, Češi a perspektívy Afriky, Nadácia Pontis, Bratislava 2012, CONCORD, AidWatch 2012, CONCORD, Brussels, 2012, report.pdf 3 For Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) PCD means working to ensure that the objectives and results of a government's development policies are not undermined by other policies of that same government which impact on developing countries, and that these other policies support development objectives where feasible. 4 DG Development, European Commission: The EU seeks to build synergies between policies other than development cooperation that have a strong impact on developing countries, for the benefit of overseas development ("policy coherence for development ). Making development policy in isolation will not bring sufficient results. 5 CONCORD, Spotlight on Policy Coherence, CONCORD, Brussels, 2009, 7. This paper has been produced within the V4AID project with the financial assistance of the European Union and SlovakAid. The contents of this paper are the sole responsibility of the author and publisher of the texts. It can in no way be considered to reflect the views of the European Union or other donors.

2 2.. The policy coherence cycle In order to understand it and to achieve progress towards PCD the concept is often described as a threephase cycle with interrelated components: political commitment on top of the effort, coordination mechanisms as a backbone and monitoring and analysis system as imaginary nerves giving feedback on any progress towards policy goals. 6 Settings and prioritising objectives: Political commitment and policy statements Monitoring, analysis and reporting: Systems for monitoring, analysis and reporting Co-ordinating policy and its implementation: Policy co-ordination mechanisms The Policy Coherence Cycle (OECD, 2009) 7 This mental picture helps to understand the challenge and guide policy-makers and other stake-holders when designing policies, institutional arrangements and monitoring mechanisms with a prospect of national policies being coherent with development goals. First, progress towards greater policy coherence starts with strong leadership at the political level (setting, prioritising and articulating objectives with respect to PCD). Secondly, effective policy co-ordination is a prerequisite in enhancing PCD (such as government's inter-departmental/ministerial coordination committees, or a specialized coherence unit at respective development or foreign ministry). Although there can be some general recommendations there is no one size fits all solution which could fit all the various political and administrative cultures. One of such general recommendations though, particularly relevant in times of budget cuts or resistance to creating of new government positions, is to use existing structures to enhance PCD before proposing new structures. It can be very useful to take advantage of the Government Office position within government, strengthen the role of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in the making of domestic policies and make the best use of inter-ministerial coordination and consultation mechanisms. Establishing special body (such as committee), or extending mandate of an existing one, which will be in charge of guiding the progress towards more PCD in the government might be another option. 8 Third part of the cycle includes measures such as improving implementation, monitoring, analysis and reporting of progress towards more PCD and it is discussed more thoroughly below. PCD on the EU level To be honest, especially in new member states, very little would be done with respect to PCD without continuous facilitation, guidance and pressure from the European Union, especially the European Commission. In the most recent 2011 EC report on PCD European Union reflects itself as one of the key promoters worldwide of the concept of Policy Coherence for Development (PCD) aimed at strengthening synergies and weeding out inconsistencies between non-aid policies and development objectives. The logic behind this task is to enhance the overall efficiency of development cooperation and ( ) increase development benefits in developing countries. 9 The PCD agenda within the European Union has been progressing quite steadily since the European Commission, the Council and the Parliament jointly committed to the concept in the 2005 European Consensus on Development 10. It is worth noting that today PCD has a strong legal basis within the Treaty of Lisbon. Its Article 208 states: The Union shall take account of the objectives of development cooperation in the policies that it implements which are likely to affect developing countries OECD, Building blocks for Policy Coherence for Development, OECD, OECD, Recommendation of the Council on Good Institutional Practices in Promoting Policy Coherence for Development, OECD, Paris, Report on Policy Coherence for Development. 10 European Council, European Parliament, European Commission, European Consensus on Development, Brussels, 2005, Policy Coherence for Development. Perspectives from member state(s) Jan Doležal, Petr Lebeda

3 Furthermore, three Commission biannual progress reports (the last one quoted above) have been published so far. The 2007, 2009 and official EU documents largely build also on the feedback from member states. The European Parliament (EP) passed a resolution on PCD in , which led to the establishment of a PCD standing rapporteur within the EP 13 and to a recent EP report on PCD 14. On top of this, PCD working programme 15 has been created by the Commission as requested by the member states and five PCD priority areas (migration, climate change, security, trade & finance and food security) have been decided upon. 3. The role of member states PCD cannot be dealt with on the EU level solely. It is primarily the member states who should play a catalysing role when it comes to putting PCD high on the political agenda and stimulating the setting up of institutional PCD mechanisms both on the European level as well as within the individual member states. Among the EU member states, however, the progress has been mixed. In most countries, public policies on security and defence, trade, agriculture or environment are rarely approached through a poverty reduction or global development lens, particularly when there are conflicting interests between these policies or conflicts between national interests and those of developing countries. Recent example might be for instance biofuels policies and increased demand for biofuel feedstock on the EU market: support for European biofuel producers, energy security and regional development interests competes with food security concerns and protection of livelihoods of indigenous communities in many tropical countries. And when they are approached with a PCD perspective, it is usually on an issue-by-issue basis, or motivated by a specific event or political agenda. Even in countries that have a long and positive record of promoting PCD and that have made efforts to implement a whole-of-government approach to international development (such as Sweden, Finland, Great Britain or the Netherlands), more can be done to translate political commitment to PCD into practice. 16 In general, not enough weight is given to development perspectives within public policies, mainly because development is not at the top of the agenda for most governments, especially in times of economic crisis. However, the growing impact of internal policies in external relations, the increasing non-oda financial flows to developing countries, or budgetary constrains in Europe make steps towards greater coordination and coherence even more necessary. In many EU countries, there is still a widespread lack of understanding, awareness and knowledge on this issue and how to turn the PCD commitments and requirements into concrete measures. PCD is still very much locked in development circles, being promoted in the first instance by development ministers/ secretaries of state and development agencies, leaving the most important stakeholders out of these debates. In addition, there is also a lack of knowledge and awareness on the benefits of coherence and the costs of incoherence. In practical terms, more and higher quality of evidence-based PCD assessments are needed. Recent experience from the Czech Republic What has been the experience with PCD in the Czech Republic? In recent years, the Czech Republic has transformed its system of development cooperation, gradually increasing the amount of resources and adopting additional measures to improve the effectiveness and transparency of the development cooperation system. The concept of PCD was incorporated in several strategic documents and is now better anchored institutionally (e.g. positive role of the Council on Development Cooperation). Yet, general political declarations, institutional adjustments, and consultations with NGOs have brought limited outcomes and rather unveiled new challenges. Establishment of a special PCD working group under the inter-ministerial Council on Development Cooperation, mobilizing additional capacity at the development cooperation department of the MFA, identifying thematic PCD priorities, and improving coordination processes both within the MFA and with relevant other ministries are important steps. They are inspired by the best practise, which shows that technical (procedural, lower government level) solutions can go a long way in improving the PCD before they hit the wall of competing political (substantial, higher government level) views. However, the key question is how domesticated and operationalized the PCD agenda, indeed the PCD approach, has really become. Outside of the MFA, it is much harder to mobilize public administration to include development perspective in a more 11 Please see; 12 REPORT on the EU Policy Coherence for Development and the Official Development Assistance plus' concept (2009/2218(INI)) Committee on Development Rapporteur: Franziska Keller. 13 MEP Charles Goerens (successor of MEP Birgit Schnieber Jastram) DOC%2bXML%2bV0%2f%2fEN&language=EN 15 COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Policy Coherence for Development Work Programme accompanying the COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS A twelve-point EU action plan in support of the Millennium Development Goals Brussels, SEC(2010) 421 final. 16 Instituto Marquês de Valle Flôr, EU Member States on the Road Towards More Policy Coherence for Development (PCD), Instituto Marquês de Valle Flôr, Lisbon, Policy Coherence for Development. Perspectives from member state(s) Jan Doležal, Petr Lebeda 3

4 systematic and tangible manner given the other, more immediate and pressing issues and interests. In the long run, administrative culture and political will of the country leadership do need to be challenged in order to achieve meaningful and sustainable results. 4. Challenges for Policy Coherence for Development While considerable progress towards coherence has occurred (especially in some countries) many issues of incoherence have yet to be resolved. Academics tried to summarize some of the main challenges which have general relevance such as: opposing interests of domestic and development constituencies, conflicts between development objectives themselves, disagreement between experts on what good development policy is, difficulties in identifying the true development interest of developing countries and growing heterogeneity between and within developing countries. 17 Last but not least, the PCD debate needs to reflect broader economic and social changes our globalised society is facing. These challenges can be understood especially on the basis of recent discussions on what the PCD actually is, whether and how we can measure it. Thus, it is the third component of the OECD PCD cycle (see above) which is worth more exploration - not only because it has been trendy in recent period. After the EU and many member states showed clear political will and set up institutions and mechanisms how to enhance PCD (and omitting limited progress in other countries), attention is slowly moving towards discovering how much evidence-based the PCD agenda is. Recent study by ECDPM which reviewed methodological approaches for evaluating coherence concludes that the evaluation of coherence is still in an early and nascent stage, especially when compared with main stream development evaluation in relation to other criteria such as effectiveness, efficiency and impact. This is not surprising considering the limited amount of investment that has been made to evaluate coherence in international cooperation. 18 Many see the opportunity in joining the discussions on the global development goals after 2015 (so called post-mdg or post-2015 agenda) with the debate on how to measure PCD. Although there has been considerable progress in designing various development-related indicators, only Commitment to Development Index (CDI) gets bigger attention (see Commitment to Development Index and Slovakia Country Report 20 ). Recommendations for Slovakia Based on general assessment of the PCD debate and the particular experience of the Czech Republic we recommend Slovakia to consider: 1) Taking advantage of existing commitments and legal basis for enhancing PCD especially in Slovakia 21 and within the EU. 2) Assessing the existing experience, commitments and recommendations developed in the OECD, on EU level and national level and taking time to effectively adapt the PCD agenda and language (too often driven by different circumstances) to Slovak context. 3) Identifying the key actors in development cooperation policy making, especially the MFA, cooperative ministries and civil society organizations, and building a dialogue with them on possibilities and limitations of adopting official commitment to PCD. 4) Focusing on selected PCD priority themes and methods while taking advantage of the existing mechanisms. 5) While not entirely omitting any component of the policy coherence cycle (political will, coordination mechanisms, monitoring), prioritize work on those activities that will turn out most feasible in current political, administrative and societal environment. 6) Increasing awareness among civil society, integrating PCD into development advocacy work and communication with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 7) Improving cooperation with non-development NGOs (both foreign and national) and ministries, finding common interests among development and non-development community. 8) Supporting Slovakia to become a member of the OECD-DAC. 9) Taking advantage of exceptional occasions such as EU Presidency to move PCD higher up the political agenda. 17 Barry, Frank, King, Michael, Matthews, Alan, Policy Coherence for Development: Five Challenges, Trinity Colleague, Dublin, Keijzer, Niels, Oppewal, Jorrit, Learn to walk before you run?, ECDPM, Brussels, Web/Content/Download.nsf/0/93C634025EDA8A05C1257A2C /$FILE/DP132_IOB%20coherence%20study%20 final%20version_ pdf Such as the Act No. 617/2007 Coll. on Official Development Aid and with the amendment of Act No. 575/2001 Coll. on Organization of the Government Activity and the Activity of the Central State Administration as amended by later legislation, Article I, paragraph 7e). Jan Doležal, Petr Lebeda: Policy Coherence for Development. Perspectives from member state(s) Policy Brief on Development Cooperation 3/2012. Slovak NGDO Platform, PDCS. December 2012 design & layout: Zuzana Číčelová

5 Bibliography (English language) Instituto Marquês de Valle Flôr, EU Member States on the Road Towards More Policy Coherence for Development (PCD), Instituto Marquês de Valle Flôr, Lisbon, Keijzer, Niels, Promoting Policy Coherence for Development. Exploring new opportunities for measurement, PCD focal points meeting, OECD, 9 February CONCORD, Spotlight on EU Policy Coherence for Development: A Lisbon Treaty provision, A Human Rights obligation, CONCORD, Keijzer, Niels, EU Policy Coherence for Development: from moving the goalposts to result-based management?, ECDPM Discussion Paper 101, ECDPM, Brussels, CONCORD, Spotlight on Policy Coherence, CONCORD, Brussels, Evert Vermeer Foundation, Policy Coherence for Development: A Practical Guide, Evert Vermeer Foundation, Amsterdam, Glopolis, Ethiopia's Food Insecurity: Europe's Role within the Broader Context of Food Flows, Climate Change and Land Grabs, Glopolis, Prague, Bibliography (Slovak language) Mesík, Juraj, Obor a trpaslík. Slováci, Češi a perspektívy Afriky, Nadácia Pontis, Bratislava Clark, Julia, Roodman, David, Index napomáhania rozvoju 2012, Center for Global Develoment, CDI%202012/Country_12_Slovakia_SLO.pdf Bibliography (Czech language) Glopolis, Rozvojová pomoc nestačí. Alternativní politické přístupy k chudobě a bezmoci ve světě, Glopolis, Prague, Glopolis, Praktické kroky ČR ke koherenci politik pro rozvoj, Glopolis, Prague, Glopolis, Koherence zemědělské a rozvojové politiky, Glopolis, Prague, Policy Coherence for Development. Perspectives from member state(s) Jan Doležal, Petr Lebeda BIBLIOGRAPHY

The Future of Development Cooperation: from Aid to Policy Coherence for Development?

The Future of Development Cooperation: from Aid to Policy Coherence for Development? Niels Keijzer, ECDPM April 2012 English translation of the original paper written in Dutch 1. Development cooperation: