Statement by the Director-General — Aid for Trade — Preparations for the
Third Global Review
Let me begin my statement with this question:
“Is Aid for Trade working?” This is the question which the
Secretary-General of the OECD, Angel Gurria, and I have asked you in
letters which have just been sent out to you and your Ministers.
Our intention is to make the question, and
your answers to it, the focus of the Third Global Review of Aid for
Trade in July 2011. The purpose of my statement before the General
Council today is to set out:
-
how we propose to use the joint OECD-WTO
monitoring and evaluation exercise to collect and present your answers;
and
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to sketch out how I see this process unfolding
between now and the Third Global Review in July 2011.
Our last Global Review in 2009 took place
against the backdrop of the unfolding global economic crisis. And yet
four members, Japan, France, the Netherlands, and the UK, offered
pledges of continued financial support for Aid for Trade. At the G-20
Toronto summit in June leaders committed themselves to maintain momentum
for Aid for Trade. Furthermore, the Korean Chair of the G20 in Seoul
next month has already indicated a strong interest in making sure the
next G20 summit has a development focus, including on Aid for Trade.
On the demand side, there is growing awareness
of the need to mainstream trade into national and regional development
policies and progress towards achieving this goal. Of the 88 partner
countries that responded to the self-assessment questionnaire circulated
in advance of the Second Global Review, more than half reported that
they had fully mainstreamed trade into their national development
strategy. I fully expect to see this positive trend continue, not least
among LDCs [least-developed countries] now that the enhancement of the
Integrated Framework is complete.
There is no doubt that we have made very
significant progress in implementing the recommendations of the Task
Force which reported to the General Council in July 2006 on how to
opererationalize Aid for Trade. Partners are prioritizing trade
objectives in their national plans and donors are making additional
funds available. Even more satisfying is that the trade and development
communities seem to be communicating! We can say with certainty that the
process is becoming better aligned and starting to work more
efficiently.
But is it making a difference? Is Aid for
Trade having the impact we desire on the ground? Is it living up to its
promise? These questions have become urgent. The need for sustainability
in finances is prompting extra scrutiny of public spending. Many donors
are conducting comprehensive evaluations of their aid expenditure.
My view has always been that we should
consider this growing “accountability culture” as an opportunity. Since
you entrusted me with this mandate in 2005, I have consistently stated
the need to focus our attention on evaluating the impact of Aid for
Trade interventions in developing countries. For the Aid for Trade
Initiative to maintain political support, we need to demonstrate clearly
and convincingly that Aid for Trade is working on the ground. If the
global crisis has made Aid for Trade imperative for developing
countries, it has also made the need to show results essential in donor
countries.
It is why I am also eager to see us
implementing results-based management approaches to our own in-house Aid
for Trade programmes, an area on which we have already started to work.
We have some promising elements. But much more
needs to be done. This is where we need your inputs. The monitoring and
evaluation framework which we have jointly put in place is based on
three main elements:
-
Tracking of global Aid for Trade flows by the
OECD;
-
Self-assessment questionnaires which are being
sent to regional economic communities, partners, donors and south-south
actors, and -
Case stories outlining what works and what
doesn't work
The letters which you should now have begun to
receive include the self-assessment questionnaires and the call for case
stories. The deadline for submission of this information is 31 January
next year.
As Oscar Wilde remarked: “The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and
never simple”. That is why we are looking not just for your views on
what works, but your experience of what hasn't gone so well and your
views on what could work better. I think our conclusions will carry more
weight if we are able to point to areas where Aid for Trade could work
better.
Information which we will collect through the questionnaires and case
stories will inform the next edition of our joint publication “Aid for
Trade at a Glance”. The information will also be made available on the
web.
Do I think we will have a definitive answer to the question
“Is Aid for
Trade Working” by next July? I hope so, but I think it is also realistic
to point to the work which still needs to be done to establish the
necessary baselines and benchmarks through which we will be able to
measure progress over time. Work on indicators needs to progress further
before we can fill the so-called “missing middle” between inputs and
impacts. My expectation is that the body of evidence we will receive
from members will point to positive associations, but that these will
need to be further elaborated in our future work programme.
But I risk getting ahead of myself. Let's not count our chickens before
the eggs have hatched. My intention today was to bring to your attention
the call to participate in this new Aid for Trade monitoring and
evaluation exercise, which will be the centrepiece of the Third Global
Review of Aid for Trade.
As members regularly remind the Secretariat, the operationalization of
Aid for Trade lies in the hands of developing countries, regional
economic communities and their development partners. By extension, you
are the best judge of what is, and what is not, working. Put simply, if
the Third Global Review of Aid for Trade is to be a success, then we
need your input. I look forward to receiving it.
Let me in closing thank Ambassador Erwidodo for his leadership in
bringing this forward as chair of the CTD [Committee on Trade and
Development].
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