Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions – Proposal for the EU Common Position for the 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, Busan

Aid reform originated in the Monterrey Consensus on Financing for Development (2002), in which the international community agreed to more effective Official Development Assistance (ODA). Subsequent High Level Forums in Rome (2003), Paris (2005) and Accra (2008) added principles, concrete commitments and a monitoring framework to strengthen the reform.

The objective of the 4th High Level Forum, to be held in Busan from 29 November to 1 December 2011, is to assess progress against agreed commitments, review the aid effectiveness agenda and link it with the wider agenda on development financing. The focus is on supporting strengthened development results in the context of new global development challenges and partnerships, including the engagement of emerging economies. The Forum is not to duplicate the international agenda on Financing for Development but to focus on the added value of aid effectiveness in reducing poverty and achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

The purpose of this Communication is to propose the EU Common Position for Busan to be followed by the EU and its Member States participating in Busan. The Communication assesses progress in implementing the commitments and provides proposals on how to focus the aid effectiveness agenda and to extend its principles to other actors and sources of development finance. It also proposes streamlining the global governance structure and focusing on country level implementation.

EUR-Lex: COM(2011)541: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2011:541:FIN

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