Attachments
GPPi, InterAction and Saferworld release civil society recommendations on security and development
The Global Public Policy Institute, together with InterAction and Saferworld, released a set of recommendations for the European Union and the United States on improving development cooperation in fragile and conflict-affected states.
These recommendations were developed as a part of the Security and Development: A Transatlantic Civil Society Dialogue project that collected the ideas of over 40 European, American and African civil society organizations for advising the EU-US High Level Consultative Group on Development (“EU-US Development Dialogue”) – the official forum for discussion on foreign assistance between the transatlantic partners. The project was co-funded by the European Union.
Through conferences, a continuous feedback process and a separate consultation with African civil society representatives, the project developed three sets of priorities and principles for European and American development cooperation in fragile and conflict-affected states:
- Addressing political, social and economic drivers of fragility;
- Supporting the “New Deal for Engagement in Fragile States”;
- Integrating conflict, violence and peace-building issues into the post-MDG framework.
Civil society participants involved with the project stressed the need to, for example, promote transparency between state and society, improve public services and revenues, harmonize donors and improve aid delivery. The dialogue also recommended strengthening the “New Deal for Engagement in Fragile States” and increasing advocacy for integrating peace and security objectives in the post-2015 development framework.
The project also proposed an additional set of recommendations focused on improving the EU-US Development Dialogue including, for example, fostering a better balance between short-term crisis response and longer-term development approaches, pursuing a more outcome-oriented dialogue management, as well as promoting greater inclusiveness, transparency and accountability.
With these recommendations, the civil society network formed through the project aimed to deliver structured and constructive input to the EU-US Development Dialogue and for the development policy of the respective partner countries. In addition, the project hoped to add ideas and insights to the continuing debate on security and development.