48541 NEWSLETTER ­ March-May 2005 FTI in the News Key Dates in Review: At the World Bank spring meetings, President Jim 11 May Moldova Joins FTI Wolfensohn held a press breakfast on the Education for All 17 April FTI Press Briefing at the World Bank ­ Fast Track Initiative. He was joined by Minister Xavier 17 March FTI Donor Partner Meeting in UK Darcos, Minister Hilde Johnson, and Minister Carin Jämtin 2 March Paris Harmonization Meeting as well as senior representatives from the Global 22 Feb. IDA 14 Replenishment Campaign for Education and Oxfam. During the event, the Global Campaign for Education released its 2005 School Report "Missing the Mark" a school report on rich countries' contribution to universal primary education available at www.campaignforeducation.org. The press conference was covered by top journalists from around the globe and resulted in numerous articles and wire stories about the need for donors to better support the initiative. Throughout the spring meetings, President Wolfensohn frequently spoke about the "moment of truth" and the need for donors to provide the required funds for the Fast Track Initiative to enable millions of children to attend primary school. And civil society groups, led by the Global Campaign for Education, are already working to ensure that the incoming President Paul Wolfowitz recognize the merits of FTI by asking for his commitment in a GCE letter. Please visit the FTI website at www.worldbank.org/education/efafti to review the news coverage and to view our new FTI information kit which includes frequently asked Q&A, basic fact sheets, a Powerpoint presentation & a brochure. FTI Snapshot around the Globe Did You Know? · Spain became the 7th donor to the Catalytic · Yemen ­ Partners signed a Declaration on Harmonization and Alignment Fund with its recent pledge of 5 million (US$6.5 million). In partnership with the World Bank Institute (WBI), the FTI Secretariat organized a videoconference · On May 11, 2005, the endorsement of on February 9, 2005 with government officials Moldova's education sector plan by its local from the Ministry of Education in Yemen, as well donors was accepted by the FTI Partnership, as local donors active in education. The objective making it the 14th country to join the Initiative. of the videoconference was to present the Fast The group of donors is now expected to Track Initiative to all stakeholders simultaneously designate a lead coordinating agency and to and answer any questions in order to bring carry out some complementary work on the cohesion among partners and muster efforts sector plan in line with the suggestions from around the initiative. the FTI Appraisal Guidelines. The Government of Yemen and its development partners (Netherlands, USA, France, Italy, UK, World Bank, Germany, Japan, UN and EC) have already signed a declaration on harmonization and alignment on January 30, 2005, which aims to create an "effective development partnership based on mutual commitment, trust, respect and confidence" with the aim of helping Yemen to achieve the MDGs. The declaration can be viewed on the FTI website at: http://www1.worldbank.org/education/efafti/yemen.asp 1 More on Harmonization Report from the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness ­ Paris, Feb. 28 - March 2, 2005 The FTI participated in the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness and was represented by the Harmonization working group lead (Marie Dorléans, France), the FTI Secretariat (Rosemary Bellew), and UNESCO (Abhimanyu Singh). The forum sought to enhance political support for harmonization and alignment efforts, and to find ways to accelerate and scale up implementation for greater effectiveness in supporting the development goals, including the MDGs. It specifically attempted to set targets for 13 alignment and harmonization indicators adopted in the Rome Declaration. A full report on the Forum from the FTI team can be found online at: http://www1.worldbank.org/education/efafti/harmonization.asp The text of the Paris Declaration can be consulted at: http://www1.worldbank.org/harmonization/Paris/FINALPARISDECLARATION.pdf And the new FTI Fact Sheet on Aid Effectiveness can be found on the FTI website at: http://www1.worldbank.org/education/efafti/documents/factsheet_harmonization.pdf OECD-DAC Guidelines for Aid Effectiveness OECD-DAC has published three volumes in their series: Harmonizing donor practices for effective aid delivery. Below is an excerpt from the cover page: "The international community is committed to helping partner countries meet the Millennium Development Goal of halving global poverty by 2015. Effective use of scarce development assistance is one important contribution to this end. This is why the development community, under the auspices of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC), is dedicated to implementing improvements in aid practices that deliver more effective and harmonised support to the efforts of partner countries. The good practices presented here have been designed to respond to this concern. They represent a set of practical steps that - if applied by development agencies - should significantly improve the effectiveness of development assistance. Following the first volume of good practices published in 2003, the second volume focuses more specifically on good practice in providing budget support (Chapter 2) and support to sector-wide approaches (Chapter 3). In doing so, it acknowledges the special relevance of public financial management issues for both of these modalities of aid delivery." Harmonising Donor Practices for Effective Aid Delivery collection: Volume 1: Framework for Donor Co-operation; Country Analytic Work and Preparation of Projects and Programmes; Measuring Performance in Public Financial Management; Reporting and Monitoring; Financial Reporting and Auditing; Delegated Co-operation Volume 2: Budget Support, Sector Wide Approaches and Capacity Development Financial Management Volume 3: Strengthening Procurement Capacities in Developing Countries. The three volumes can be consulted at the following web page: http://www.oecd.org/document/22/0,2340,en_2649_201185_34600534_1_1_1_1,00.html#v2 2 The Fast Track Initiative Donor Partners meet in Croydon, UK - March 17-19, 2005 About 65 participants from donor countries and agencies participated in the FTI Technical meeting held in Croydon, UK, March 17 to 19, 2005. The meeting was placed under the dual umbrella of communications and resource mobilization, and its objective was to consolidate the work begun over the past year and to set some key desired outcomes for the coming year. A detailed report from the meeting can be found on the FTI website at: http://www1.worldbank.org/education/efafti/ftimeetings.asp#Technical_Meetings Donor Partners Updates European Union agreed to double its development aid to poorer nations. The 15 richest EU member states have agreed to set a new spending target - at least 0.51% of their national wealth - on the developing world by 2010. The other 10 poorer, mostly eastern European member states - who joined the EU last year - agreed a 0.17% target. Mr. Brown hailed the aid increase, but said it was now important to bring together all the world's richest nations to sign up to a single plan. He hoped the plan could be agreed when Britain chaired the G8 summit at Gleneagles in July. IDA 14 Replenishment: Substantial increase for poorest countries Donor countries have reached agreement on a substantial replenishment of funds to the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank branch that provides assistance to the world's 81 poorest countries where the vast majority of people live on less than $2 a day. At least $34 billion in resources will be made available during the next three years for development assistance, of which about $18 billion will come from new contributions from 40 donor countries. This represents, at a minimum, a 25 percent increase in overall resources over the previous replenishment, and is the largest expansion of IDA resources in two decades. While donor countries made firm financial commitments to the replenishment, some are still exploring the possibility of increased pledges to reach the 30 percent target supported at the Athens IDA Deputies meeting. To learn more about IDA, please visit: www.worldbank.org/ida Belgium Belgium set a 2010 deadline for its aid commitment to the global campaign against poverty. Currently, Brussels assigns 0.61 percent of the country's gross national income or 0.09 percent short of the industrialized world's promised support to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals. Arguing that "poverty in Africa is a shame for rich countries," Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt advised prosperous nations to do penance for this disgrace by following the example of Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, which are known for their strict obedience of the 0.07-percent-of- the-GNI rule. In addition, he committed to place the MDGs and Africa's poverty "amongst the top priorities of the new strategic agenda of Europe and the United States" (Source: Development: Belgium Urges Rich to Meet Aid Pledges/Inter Press Service, South Africa) Canada The administration of Prime Minister Paul Martin announced that over the next five years it will add C$3.4 billion (US$2.74 billion) to its development funds. Jack Layton, the leader of the National Democratic Party, frowned at the so-called "moderate" jump in overseas financial assistance and explicitly conveyed 3 his desire for "a significant increase." According to Stockwell Day, a prominent member of the Conservative Party of Canada, the amount means that the country still falls short of its foreign aid target of 0.7 percent of the gross domestic product. The fresh aid budget excludes the pledge of C$425 million (US$343 million) to the victims of the Asian tsunami and C$342 million (US$276 million) for global health initiatives. Canada has also set its heart on releasing C$100 million (US$80.7 million) in the next five years to dispatch experts such as legal specialists, police officers and election observers to places where their services will be needed. (Source: Spending to rise by $3.4 billion - The Toronto Star, Canada) France/UK support Niger Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for International Development, signed an agreement with French development Minister Xavier Darcos in Niger, underlining Anglo-French commitment to support African efforts to provide education for all. The UK will provide an initial £7 million in support of Niger's basic education policy, via France's development co-operation program with the country. This contribution will be spread over a three-year period starting in 2006, with the possibility of increased support in future. Mr. Benn also announced that the UK will make a £7.5m contribution to relieving Niger's multilateral debt payments. Niger is the first country that Mr. Benn has visited since announcing an investment of £1.4 billion in education to help get more girls into school. With 58 million girls in developing countries unable to attend school, the aim of equality of opportunity with boys by 2005 is set to be the first Millennium Development Goal that the world will fail to achieve. In common with many other countries in Francophone Africa, Niger still faces challenges in achieving education for all: low primary school enrolment rates, a lack of teaching and reading materials, and low completion rates. A particular challenge is the high dropout rate among girls. The agreement will see the UK providing funds via France's own operation in Niger, using French technical expertise and close relations with Niger. This represents one of the first outcomes of the action plan for Anglo-French cooperation on development agreed at the Lancaster House UK/France summit in November 2004. Mr Benn said: "By getting more girls into primary education we can greatly improve their chances of finding better paid work, raising a healthy family, and preventing the spread of diseases such as HIV. That is why we are joining forces with France to provide support for the implementation of Niger's 10-year Education sector plan. "Niger has already made great strides in improving its education sector, but with only half of all children starting, and just a third finishing, primary school, there is much to be done."I've seen for myself today the enthusiasm among children here in Niger to be in school and to learn. It is vital that the international community provides support to the Niger government, particularly in getting as many girls as boys into school." For more details see: http://www.dfid.gov.uk/news/files/pressreleases/uk-france-summit.asp Progress towards the MDGs: Reports from Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom As part of the preparation for the review of the Millennium Declaration in September 2005 at the United Nations, some European countries have prepared progress reports on their work towards reaching the MDGs. The reports can be accessed using the following links: Denmark: http://www.um.dk/Publikationer/Danida/English/DanishDevelopmentCooperation/MillenniumDevelopment GoalsProgressReport2004/index.asp#indhold 4 Finland http://global.finland.fi/english/publications/pdf/mdg_report.pdf The Netherlands http://www.undp.org/mdg/netherlands.pdf Norway http://www.undp.org/mdg/Norway.pdf Sweden http://www.sweden.gov.se/content/1/c6/02/81/17/55c27ccc.pdf UK http://www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/uk-cont-mdg-report.pdf Upcoming Events High Level Forum II Follow up ­ May 30-21, 2005 ­ Paris, France Meeting of the DAC Working Party on Aid Effectiveness and Donor Practices The agenda includes the review of baselines, targets and indicators for adoption in the Paris Declaration, and a discussion of the work program of the working party and its sub-groups. Dakar + 5 - June 12 ­ 16. Dakar, Senegal Organized by UNESCO and other partners to follow up on EFA progress since 2000 G8 summit ­ July 6-8. Gleneagles, Scotland FTI Steering Committee meeting ­ July 18. Paris, France UNESCO Working Party on EFA ­ July 19-21. Paris, France UN Millennium Summit ­ September 14-16. New York City, USA 5 years after the adoption of the 8 Millennium Development Goals, this meeting will be the occasion to review progress and define strategies to reach the goals by 2015. UNESCO High Level Group on EFA ­ November 28-30. Beijing, China FTI Partnership Meeting ­ November 30-December 2. Beijing, China Annual meeting of FTI partners: developing countries, donor and development agencies (bilateral and multilateral) and civil society. We want to hear from you! We will gladly include education news from FTI partners in the newsletter. Please send us relevant articles, reports, websites links, etc., by email to: fti@worldbank.org For any query on the Fast-Track Initiative, please contact: Abby Spring, aspring@worldbank.org or + 202-458-9491 5