DFID and UNDP hosted a joint Seminar (26
Jan) entitled ‘Words into Action
in 2005’ (on the MDGs)
Amongst others, Gordon Brown, Hilary Benn and Evelyn Herfkens
spoke, as well as the finance ministers of Rwanda and Sweden.
Summary
ODIs recent work on European
Development Cooperation and on the UN
and International Aid
The MDGs will feature prominently in 2005, not only in UK
initiatives connected to the G8 and our EU Presidency, but
also because of the UN summit on the topic in September. The
debates about the MDGs are technical (Are these the right
targets? Do we know how to reach them?) but also political
(Can we raise the money? Will rich countries change their
policies? Will they be accountable?). This opening session
will analyse some of the overarching questions that surround
the MDGs as a development and political project. Wednesday 26 January 2005 - The
Millennium Development Goals: the 2005 agenda(first
meeting cancelled)
This session will examine the implications of using goals
and targets as proxies for wider poverty reduction and development
processes. Population issues have been largely excluded from
the MDGs, with no discussion of demography or why population
issues matter to the achievement of the MDGs. This session
uses demography, HIV/AIDS and poor reproductive health as
themes to allow the exploration of how specific targets may
exclude other important issues which impact on well-being,
productivity, investments in human capital and the achievement
of the MDGs.
Wednesday 9 February 2005 - Committee Room 9, House of
Commons 13h00-14h15 Building
a constituency for poverty reduction Speakers: Barbara Stocking - Director of Oxfam; Paul
Dornan - Child Poverty Action Group Chair: Tony Worthington MP
Building a constituency for poverty reduction amongst the
G8 and the economic and policy elites in developing countries
is a challenge. This session examines the role of different
stakeholders, including international NGOs in mobilising support
amongst the public, elites and the international community,
and debates whether without this support, the MDGs can be
achieved.
Thursday 24 February 2005 - Attlee Suite, Portcullis House
13h00-14h15 The
EU's contribution to achieving the MDGs Speakers: Gareth Thomas MP - DFID and Louis Michel
- European Commissioner in charge of Development and Humanitarian
Aid Chair: Tony Worthington MP
The EU is soon to revise its development policy, providing
an opportunity for it to address MDG-related issues more directly.
The EU's current development policy statement was written
before the MDG goals and targets were finalised and so was
unable to treat the attainment of MDGs as a focus of its interventions
and approach. This session will examine what changes are necessary
in terms of aid architecture and to the EU's policy and practice
for the EU to become a leading player in the international
development community.
Wednesday 2 March 2005 - Attlee Suite, Portcullis House
13h00-14h15 Failed
and fragile states: How can the MDGs be achieved in difficult
environments? Speaker: Karin Christianson, Research Fellow at ODI
and Ameen Jan - Team leader of Prime Minister's Strategy Unit
- Cabinet Office; David Mepham, Associate Director of IPPR
(discussant) Chair: Tony Worthington MP
Traditional aid and development mechanisms have tended not
to be applicable in failed and fragile states. This is often
due to the challenges exerted from weak governance, issues
of political will, conflict and insecurity. This session will
examine whether suitable modalities can be developed for delivering
the MDGs in failed and fragile states.
Carol Bellamy's speech will center around the situation
of children around the world today, U.N. Reform and how the
UN and the international community can by focusing on priorities
for children make a significant difference. Speaker: Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF
Chair: Tony Worthington MP
This session will examine the ability and desirability of
efforts to secure large volume increases in aid to support
of the achievement of the MDGs. Cynics of this position posit
issues around aid absorption, macroeconomic threats, aid dependency
and the fungibility of aid as reasons for avoiding these efforts
without commensurate efforts to improve quality of aid. This
session will give ODI and APGOOD the opportunity to host the
UK launch of the DAC Annual Development Co-operation report.
Thursday 17 March - Committee
Room 14 of the House of Commons 12:30 until 13h45 The
Commission for Africa Report and the UK Response to It
Hilary Benn MP, Secretary of State for International Development,
will be examining the content of the Commission for Africa Report
and the UK response to it. Chair: Ann McKechin, MP
