Across Asia and the Pacific, development challenges manifest differently, but remain interconnected. Countries are in a very deep – almost impossible to recover from – external debt. The cost to live is in an upward trend with the prices of basic services and necessities increasing while wages remain stagnant. Austerity measures are put in place as a false solution to economic woes. World politics are in chaos too – international law and order are disrespected and abandoned; populism and economic protectionism are taking center stage; development commitments have become fragile.
The climate emergency exacerbates our political economic situation. More and more resource extraction endangers the world while at the same time, deepens the unequal relations between the foreign capital of the Global North and the peoples of the Global South. National and regional conflicts are intensifying, and another global war is not impossible.
However, as the crisis worsens, the people’s spirit to fight and struggle only gets stronger and louder and bolder. Compassion, solidarity, and cooperation are not dead – we just need to work harder, together. Last year, several mass mobilizations across Asia Pacific were organized by the youth, women, workers, farmers, and Indigenous Peoples, among others. From the Philippines to Indonesia, to Nepal, to Palestine, a groundswell of populations came together to resist, assert, and demand. Indeed, as the Pacific long advocated for, locally-led, community-grounded approaches toward sustainable development, including in humanitarian and climate responses, should be the standard.
Reality of Aid – Asia Pacific’s vision this year is simple – advocate for an international development cooperation where countries lead with accountability in building a rights-based, socially just world. Moreover, a people-centered international development cooperation contributes to reinforcing, if not rebuilding, the national sovereignty of Global South countries – free from neocolonial dictates of the Global North; from debt and austerity; from trade impositions.
The strategy involves surveying and exposing anti-people policies and practices; harnessing members’ expertise in developing policy recommendations or organizing campaigns and dialogues; and supporting and amplifying local initiatives that promote people’s rights, peace and security, and sovereign economic change.
Together, let’s expose, defend, and reinforce the following action agenda for 2026:
EXPOSE
- Raise awareness on and disseminate civil society reports of development projects that do not respect and honor development effectiveness principles.
- Condemn donor countries, international financial institutions (IFIs), and national governments that do not uphold their commitments to international development cooperation and other related declarations, policies, and rules.
- Unmask the role of donor countries, IFIs, and the private sector in escalating conflicts and securitization of development cooperation.
DEFEND
- Champion people’s rights, including various sectoral rights, and national sovereignty.
- Assert development financing that works for the people.
- Promote and protect conflict prevention and peacebuilding initiatives and humanitarian laws.
REINFORCE
- Uphold the 0.7% gross national income (GNI) Official Development Assistance (ODA) commitment of donor governments to reduce poverty and inequality.
- Uphold development effectiveness principles in developing, implementing, and monitoring development programs and policies of all governments from the North and South.
- Prioritize locally-led leadership and programming.
- Reform the international financial architecture and international development cooperation governance toward sovereign economic change.
- Promote the triple nexus framework and programming in development.
- End austerity policies and all forms of conditionalities; stop budget cuts; and cancel debts.
- Oppose the corporate capture of development.
- Resist the militarization of development.