PRESS RELEASE
The global community is in a roll towards the much anticipated 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF4) on November 29-December 1 in Busan, South Korea.
In the forum, development actors are expected to highlight “achievements” of commitments made in the previous forums in Ghana (2008) and Paris (2005) while it is also anticipated that “new aid architecture” will be outlined.
In the Philippines, a multi-stakeholders Technical Working Group (TWG) composed of the government, donor agencies and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) has already started convening to lay down respective issues and key messages that are expected to be reflected in one “Philippine statement” for the Busan HLF4.
As the HLF 4 is deemed highly political and equally significant for the future of aid and development cooperation, Philippine CSOs led by AidWatch-Philippines and the Council for People’s Development and Governance (CPDG) now call on the Philippine government to ensure that the composition of the official Philippine delegation will be inclusive and multi-stakeholders.
The Korean government has already sent invitation to the Philippine government to attend HLF4 through the Department of Finance (DOF), the agency responsible for the said matter. However, the composition of Philippine delegation is yet to be announced.
AidWatch and CPDG particularly call on DOF Secretary Carlos Purisima to include CSOs actively working and engaging in the Aid Effectiveness process and working towards the more comprehensive “development effectiveness” and are directly working with grassroots organizations to be part of the delegation.
Moreover, AidWatch, CPDG and our network organizations call on the government to also include parliamentarians in the delegation as they are elected to form and reform laws affecting people’s lives which include aid and development.
We at AidWatch, CPDG and our network organizations believe that only through an inclusive and multi-stakeholders delegation can the Philippines be effectively delivering the country’s message in the HLF4.
AidWatch, CPDG and our network organizations have early on came up with Philippine CSO statement for Busan highlighting on poverty alleviation, human rights, gender equality, social justice and environmental sustainability as foundations of an open and broader partnership for development effectiveness and development cooperation. ###
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AidWatch Philippines is a broad network of 160 grassroots-based NGOs and civil society networks involve in the promotion of aid and development effectiveness in over 60 provinces in the Philippines.
2 The Council for People’s Development and Governance (CPDG) is a broad and diverse national network based in the Philippines of national-sectoral and regional networks of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and people’s organizations (POs) engaged in development work. CPDG engages in the CSO development effectiveness process.