Mutual Accountability and Good Governance in Africa: the role of development partners

By Ms. Anna Maria Agnes Van Ardenne-van der Hoeven,
Minister for Development Cooperation, Netherlands;

Mr. Chairman, first of all I would like to thank you for the report.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Before I come to the central theme of this ADF, good governance and mutual accountability. I would like to thank you KY Amoako for his excellent report on Good Governance. It is still a synopsis, but already promising for our discussions. I'm looking forward to the report in 2005. Indeed good governance should be placed in broader perspective of cooperation and responsibility.

Mutual accountability is a defining feature of today's globalising world with worldwide communication and global economies. Mankind has never before been connected on this scale and complexity. We, poor and rich nations alike, are now mutual dependent for out stability and prosperity. Think about the conservation of the Earth, think about the Aids global pandemic, terrorism, migration, think about the economic and financial ties crossing the globe. It is our interest and of our children that we contribute to a safe, clean and prosperous world, states to states, developing countries and development partners, but also governments and people.

What has happened is new in history. All governments showed their commitment and signed the international agreements of Monterrey and Johannesburg, to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, a transparent and worldwide commitment.

How are we doing? Not very well, I am afraid. Take a look at the MDG- progress reports produced by the UN and the World Bank, and it becomes clear straight away the Sub-Saharan Africa is staying behind. That is something leaders in Africa and tin OECD countries - we as we sit here today- should be ashamed of. Together we signed up for MDG's 1 to 8. A matter of political will to fulfill our promises, 2015 is our deadline.

Mutual responsibilities

What has to be done? [In fact NEPAD has it all]

1. Development partners need to deliver on the 0.7% GDP for development assistance which they signed up to in Monterrey. Together with Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Luxembourg the Netherlands meets the agreed percentage. As the current chair of the European Union I am actively pressing on this point. The new Europe of 25 should set the example. And indeed many countries are planning to increase their contribution over the coming years. The EU member states use European annual reports to follow the fulfilling of the 0.7% commitment. EU should focus more on the poorest countries and reduce the current 49 % support for middle income countries by half. Besides public capital we should also take into account the private capital flows. Domestic capital, unleashing entrepreneurship is the message. The great bulk of the poor live in the private sector and indeed they are the private sector. In countries with GPD per capita less than 500 $ micro-enterprises and SME's represent over 75% employment.

2. For countries that are faced with unsustainable debts, we have to look for solutions that break the vicious circle of lending, new unsustainable debts and subsequent debt relief. I therefore would like to call for support for the Debt Sustainability Framework that at present is being developed by WB and IMF. This framework is proper tool to help prevent new debt distress in countries that have gone through the HIPC process. I consider HIPC a temporary instrument and in that respect I do not see the need for initiatives that promote 100% debt relief and a 100% grant IDA-window. What is needed is a mix of grants, concessional loans and loans technical aid for improved public finance management and debt management in the developing countries.

3. Development partners should step up their efforts to promote the harmonization of donor procedures to end the overburdening of African governments in the management of aid flows. Having to deal with 1000 donors missions and prepare 2400 progress reports per year simply doesn't make sense.

4. OECD nations need to be coherent. At the very least, rich countries have to make sure that non-aid policies do no harm to development and poverty reduction. This goes for policies in the fields of agriculture and migration, but also relates to important issues like making available cheep generics for anti-retrovirals in the battle against HIV/AIDS and the export of arms. Trade policies of course provide the prime example of the necessity of coherence.

5. Hong Kong should mark Doha as a true Development Round, with substantial gains for the poorest nations, most notably Africa. Europe has made an important move by announcing its intentions. The real benefits for developing countries will depend on the details of the framework, which need to be worked out in the next phase of the talks. The Netherlands will continue its ambitious approach.

6. Africa needs to take responsibility for good governance as well. Privatisation of businesses, liberalization of trade and markets in one example, important for south south trade. African countries will hardly benefit from multilateral liberalisation if they don't get their own house in order. The African Peer Review Mechanism is a major effort that has been undertaken by African states which acknowledge the importance of mutual accountability. The current group of 23 African countries that participate in the process should be commended. The experience in practice with the first group shows the complexity of the issues at hand and the risk of delays as thorough planning of the process and the actual research requires much time and effort. The challenge will be to include society as whole and to make this accountability framework truly mutual.

Improving governance

Ladies and gentlemen,

Let me now focus on the issues of good governance and on ways the Netherlands supports governments and socities in this respect.

When discussing good governance, I find it useful to distinguish two dimensions: legitimacy and effectiveness. The legitimacy of a state is found in its capacity to create a political and institutional environment that protects human rights, respects democratic principles and the rule of law and that safeguards the vulnerable in society. A legitimate government is supported and trusted by the population in an open and transparent way.

Good governance is about the distribution political power and means. It means inclusion of women and other marginalised groups. Good governance may also require shifts in power and I am pleased to see that the African countries have made significant increase in the political participation of women. However this increased participation of women in the political arena has to be accompanied by efforts which improve and safeguard the rights of all African women.

The effectiveness of the state relates to the capacity to manage human and natural resources as well as economic and financial means. A state's effectiveness depends largely on various capacities and organizational strengths in delivering public goods Effectiveness is about performance.

To improve governance in a sustainable way, the two have to develop in balance. This means that there are no blue- prints for improving governance. What it really means is capacity building, investing in people, education, training, strengthening institutions.

In the 36 partner countries we work with, of which 16 are in Africa, our activities in the field of governance are carefully designed in dialogue with government, civil society and other donors.

Recently we have produced a handbook on good governance, which I am happy to share with you today. It comprises 5 focus areas: democratization, respect for human rights and the rule of law, but also the fight against corruption and good economic governance, the latter referring to a sound business-and investment climate. Support in these areas can comprise broad range of activities. Examples are sending election monitors as part of international election observation missions, capacity building of parliamentarians, judges or the police, helping in the establishment of an anticorruption commissions or ombudsman, supporting a chamber of commerce, and strengthening public finance management. These activities should be part of a broad political dialogue.

Good governance isn't regarded as an issue of public administrations and governments only. I consider the role of civil and business society as being equally important. I support very capable civil and business society organizations to strengthen their partners in the south, on a wider range of issues such as human rights, the media, farmer organizations and women's groups and the participation in the poverty reduction strategies. Our experience with long term civic education in Kenya is promising. What we see now is that there is more awareness more participation in public debates. Through free media. As a consequences the Kenyan government is enforced to communicate about its policy measures regarding human rights democracy, and anti corruption. The process for the accountability of governments starts in the civil and business society organization, critical mass movements and women's groups.

Finally, while good governance can be an end in itself, as it contributes to an enabling environment for society to develop, it is also a significant vehicle for reaching targets in specific areas, such as basic education, health or the environment. For this reason, we have introduced a governance focus in the sect oral programes of our bilateral support as well.

Conclusion

Ladies and gentlemen, let me conclude. The global village is too small for us to shy away from our responsibilities.

The only way for a world with peace and security is to grow, to deliver and to unite. Our Prime Minister presented the first MDGs report according to the -OECD/Dac framework - of the Netherlands in May this year. I call upon other governments to follow suit. Next report we want to consult partner countries and civil society organizations how they reflect on our progress. In this process we look for mutual accountability.

Thank you.

Power legislation about equal rights and proper access to justice and protection still require action at all levels.

The vulnerability of women is often a result of their maginalised economic position. This, despite the fact that women make major contribution to the national economics, which, unfortunately, do not appear in the statistics.

Trade rounds, therefore, need to take full account of women's labor.