Transparência da cooperação para o desenvolvimento: para que e para quem?

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Hoje recebi um email de um querido amigo brasileiro com o seguinte título: 'Talvez vocês achem interessante.' E era tão interessante que virou blog post.

O email trazia o link para o Aid Transparency Index 2014 da ONG inglesa Publish What You Fund. Trata-se de um ranking de transparência dos países que prestam cooperação internacional para o desenvolvimento. O ranking usa o standard de transparência do International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) e mostra o Brasil em 59 lugar em uma lista de  68 países. 

O Brasil disponibiliza boa parte dos dados que compõem o IATI standard no site da Agência Brasileira de Cooperação. Se essas informações estivessem no formato IATI e fossem publicadas no 'registry' da iniciativa, o Brasil possivelmente ganharia muitas posições no ranking. Me parece que isso não demandaria maiores esforços do Brasil, para além de atualizar e sistematizar informação que já existe e que já é pública. Ok, dá um trabalhinho sim... :-)

Contudo, como país não signatário de Busan, por considerar o IATI uma iniciativa de países do CAD-OCDE e por acreditar que o formato IATI não abarca aspectos críticos para a CSS (como a monetização de horas técnicas, a transferência de conhecimento e tecnologia, e resultados de desenvolvimento) isso ainda não acontece. Há, portanto, razões políticas e técnicas para não reportar dados segundo o standard IATI.

Boa parte dos componentes do standard IATI são aplicáveis à cooperação Sul-Sul. Ainda assim, o IATI reconhece as incongruência técnicas remanescentes e tem tentado criar módulos específicos para que países possam reportar a CSS. O mesmo tem sido feito com a cooperação humanitária e financiamento das mudanças climáticas de maneira experimental e voluntária. 

No aspecto político, o fato de a maioria das organizações que reportam segundo o standard IATI serem governos e ONGs do 'Norte' não ajuda diminuir as resistências de países como o Brasil. Outro aspecto importante é a dificuldade que o IATI sempre teve de ganhar tração nos países 'receptores'. Curiosamente, essa semana reencontrei um amigo do Ministério da Fazenda de Bangladesh que confirmou a permanente dificuldade do IATI em conectar com os sistemas nacionais de gestão da cooperação para o desenvolvimento. 

Apesar de ser uma das prioridades da iniciativa, ainda são poucos os países 'receptores' que de fato usam o standard IATI para monitorar os resultados e impacto da cooperação recebida.

...e seguimos nossa luta diária por um maior e melhor entendimento da cooperação Sul-Sul, maior transparência e diálogo entre as várias iniciativas.

Indian Cabinet approves tripartite agreement to boost ‪IBSA Fund‬

A model for the creation of other Southern-led financial mechanisms to fight poverty, including within the New Development Bank?

Indian Cabinet approves tripartite agreement to boos IBSA Fund
Originally published at the BRICS Post

November 18, 2015, 3:10 pm

The IBSA Fund aids the least developed countries in the world [Xinhua]

The Indian Cabinet has approved the signing of a tripartite agreement among India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA), for the IBSA Fund for the Alleviation of Poverty and Hunger that was created in 2004.

Each of the IBSA’s members annually assigns $ 1 million to the Fund.

The IBSA Fund is a unique vehicle in the context of South-South cooperation.

The IBSA countries contribute $1 million each annually to the Fund, which till January 2015 has accumulated to $28.2 million, with total implemented/approved projects commitment of $26.2 million, and remaining $2.09 million available for programming.

Working through the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and its Office for South-South Cooperation, the fund has made interventions in agriculture, rural electrification, waste management and health in some of the least developed countries in the world, among them Burundi, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Sierra Leone and Palestine.

The IBSA Fund was conferred the South-South Partnership Award at the 2006 UN Day event held in New York in December 2006.

Meanwhile, Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira who is on an official visit to India, will attend the 7th India-Brazil Joint Commission meeting on Thursday in New Delhi.

Vieira will hold talks with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj and Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley later on Thursday.

IBSA acts in three main areas: political coordination, sectorial cooperation, and the IBSA Fund.

NeST launches analytical framework for South-South cooperation

This post was originally published on the SAIIA website. Authors are responsible for the concepts, ideas, views and opinions disseminated in the blog posts.

In March 2015 a group of 25 prominent academics and development co-operation experts from the Network of Southern Think Tanks (NeST) gathered in Midrand, South Africa to discuss a common analytical framework for South−South co-operation. Representatives from Brazil; China; Colombia; India; Kenya; Malawi; Mexico; Mozambique; Namibia; South Africa; Turkey; Uganda; and Zimbabwe; provided insights and discussed conceptual and methodological dimensions of measuring the quantum, quality and impact of South-South Co-operation within the arena of international development.

This was the first meeting in a series of Technical Working Groups tasked with developing a Southern analytical framework. As part of a wider consultation to provide inputs to NeST’s conceptual work, a multi-stakeholder policy dialogue on the topic ‘Emerging Partners in Africa’s Development’ was organised to discuss the rol and contribution of South−South co-operation to international development and appropriate monitoring and accountability frameworks for such. A subsequent Technical Working Group has since been held, in Johannesburg in early September to further develop the indicators to measure the quality of South-South partnerships and processes.

The working document titled; “Developing a Conceptual Framework for South-South Cooperation”, summaries the insights, consensus and divergences emerging from the various technical workshops of the Network of Southern Think Tanks. The working document covers areas such as: Defining South-South Co-operation; Information Management for South-South Co-operation; Evaluating the Impact of South-South Cooperation; Assessing the Quality of South-South Cooperation; along with updates from the various National and Regional chapters of NeST.

Private sector contribution to development: the Interamerican Development Bank ‘South-South Knowledge Transfer Program’ experience

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The exchange of knowledge and technology among countries of the global South to accelerate development has gained new impetus over the past years. Most South-South cooperation, however, focuses on government-to-government initiatives, thereby overlooking the potential contribution of non-state actors, particularly private sector organizations and networks.

Within the South-South and triangular cooperation framework, chambers of commerce, business associations, private foundations, universities and financial institutions have been developing innovative solutions to development challenges. Many are investing in knowledge and skills development to build productive capacities and integrate the disadvantaged to the market. Others are developing innovative business and financial instruments to foster entrepreneurship. These initiatives are being exchanged by private entities directly or in collaboration with governments through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs).

In Latin America and the Caribbean, the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) has been using the vast repository of knowledge generated by private entities to boost development in the region. Launched in 2009, the South-South Knowledge Transfer Program replicates successful MIF projects by capturing knowledge derived from those initiatives and reusing it in other institutions facing similar development challenges. Between 2009 and 2014, 11 projects in areas like value chain development, youth entrepreneurship, microfinance and business incubation were funded. These projects provided direct benefits to 45 public and private organizations, 150 additional local institutions, 350 technical staff, and more than 3,500 individuals in 17 countries.

In Colombia, the MIF supported the Chamber of Commerce of Cartagena (CCC) develop methodologies, technical assistance initiatives, and training programs to enhance small retailers businesses. The service sector accounts for approximately 50% of Colombia’s gross domestic product and employs 60% of the economically active population. Approximately 700,000 neighborhood shops provide more than one million jobs, and account for 62% of the sector’s businesses. Yet, Colombian retailers face numerous challenges such as limited business education, inadequate facilities, and unfamiliarity with the laws governing businesses. CCC and MIF helped over 300 retailers move from survival strategies to efficient and profitable businesses.

The Chambers of Commerce of Ibagué, Cauca, Guajira, and Quibdó, who had been exposed to CCC methodologies, expressed their interest to learn more from the experience. These chambers had started similar initiatives, but they were mostly ad hoc efforts with little impact on the ground. Working with CCC and the South-South Knowledge Transfer Program was therefore an opportunity to develop more structured and systematic initiatives based on a previously tested experience. In Cauca, the project helped increase sales by 20% and USD20 million were reinvested to expand and/or modernize businesses. In La Guajira, the microenterprise development program was incorporated into the portfolio of the Chamber of Commerce and is being replicated in other sectors.

Through the various initiatives supported so far, the South-South Knowledge Transfer Program has learned that the limited availability of best practices and mechanisms in matching the supply and the demand for knowledge and technology hinder more pro-development initiatives by the private sector. Acquiring, adapting, and applying the knowledge generated by private entities is a medium-term process, and recurrent interaction is necessary in all relationships. Hence, the program has been combining one off activities (i.e. trainings and visits) and support services (i.e. technical assistance, advisory, mentoring, and online communities) over time to advance and strengthen partners’ learning process.

One example was the transfer of the Uruguayan Ingenio’s expertise in supporting startup businesses to other business incubators in El Salvador, Panama and Paraguay. The transfer consisted of a sequence of training and mentoring activities in each participating country designed to match specific partners’ needs. The transfer also included reference materials and networks to enhance personal ties and contact opportunities beyond the project life span. The project originally intended to create a virtual learning community to deepen networking among the four partners, but the lack of a communication and knowledge management strategy as well as funds to maintain the IT system and manage the community after the end of the project limited the results of this particular effort.

The knowledge generated by private-sector entities and networks has the potential to become innovative development experiences that can be replicated and scaled up. South-South and triangular cooperation should build on this knowledge to catalyze change of greater magnitude, including through public-private partnerships. More information on private sector-led experiences and public-private partnerships in development should be collected to enhance knowledge exchange instruments and the adaptation of these experiences to the local context.

Network of Southern Think Tanks (NeST) in Action - How to Measure SSC Impact

This post was originally published on the South-South Opportunity by Multipolar. Authors are responsible for the concepts, ideas, views and opinions disseminated in the blog posts.

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The new year has started with great news for Southern academia working on South-South and triangular cooperation. Building up on previous attempts - notably the extinct Task Team on South-South Cooperation and the subsequent BRICS Academic Fora -, the Network of Southern Think Tanks (NeST) was launched in 2014. It strives to provide a "global platform for Southern Think Tanks to collaboratively generate, systematize, consolidate and share knowledge on South-South Cooperation (SSC) approaches in international development."

Currently key members include RIS (India) - hosting the Secretariat -, CAU (China), IPEA (Brazil), as well as SAIIA and WSG (both South Africa). In particular think tanks, universities, research institutes and NGOs from countries receiving SSC are warmly invited to become "Nest-ed".

One of the key tasks for the NeST will be to assess the quantity, quality and impact of SSC, as a way to respond to the manifold challenges still found in the institutional and operational reality of today's SSC. To this end, the global NeST effort will be enriched by national NeST chapters. Two of these have recently been launched in South Africa and Brazil, with great energy for all involved stakeholders.

In addition, the NeST held a first global Policy Dialogue on Measuring the Impact of SSC in Midrand, South Africa, on March 3 2015, with participation of academia from numerous African and LAC countries (more details here and agenda here). The outcomes will be available soon, so stay tuned to the NeST here at southsouth.info and other partnering platforms.