| Over 600 representatives of 325 civil society organizations from 88 countries have issued a declaration in preparation for the Accra High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, which begins today in Ghana.
"[There is a] huge gap between what has been promised to the billions who still live in poverty, and what has been delivered" reads the document. It goes on to urge governments to work harder to meet their commitments to provide better aid – a crucial requirement for addressing the high levels of poverty and inequality around the world.
International faith-based organizations have also joined forces to press governments and major institutional donors to put a special focus on the poor during their discussions, something that is not reflected in the 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness.
Development and Peace will be represented at the Accra Forum by Caritas Internationalis.
Civil society organizations, including faith-based organizations, urge donors to untie aid, eliminate conditionality and collaborate with the poor and grassroots communities. They also make clear that recipient countries must ensure that aid resources are spent in an accountable, democratic and transparent manner.
"Accra represents a long sought-after opportunity to reshape the entire aid architecture. The voices and the needs of the poor must be front and center of any new development in this sector and the role of civil society organizations needs to be acknowledged." says Gilio Brunelli, Director of International Programs at Development and Peace.
"Moreover, the rich countries' commitment to allocate 0.7 % of GDP to official development assistance should not only be reaffirmed but achieved. Poor countries must also be given immediate debt cancellation and should not be subject to conditionality. Donors and aid recipients have a chance to go down in history this week, but only if they give positive responses to these pressing questions."
Development and Peace is the official international development organization
of the Catholic Church in Canada and the Canadian member of Caritas Internationalis. It works with partners in Africa, in Asia, in Latin America and in the Middle East and has over 13,000 members across Canada.
For more information:
Caritas Internationalis: Make aid work at Accra summit
Civil society statement in Accra warns urgency for action on aid
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