The OECD Development Assistance and  Committees are working together to enhance the effectiveness of aid-for-trade programmes by strengthening the integration of trade within development programmes, developing impartial and reliable tools to assess aid-for-trade programmes, and fostering dialogue and knowledge exchange among stakeholders.

 

In collaboration with the WTO and each of the main regional development banks (the Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the African Development Bank), the OECD organised Practitioners Fora back-to-back with the three "Mobilizing Aid for Trade" regional reviews. The objectives of these fora were to ensure that partner countries' governments were aware of the objectives and elements of the OECD/WTO monitoring framework, and to consult with them on the WTO/OECD Partner Country Questionnaire on Aid for Trade.

 

It was evident from the fora that many partner countries were disconnected from the ongoing debate in Geneva concerning the concept of monitoring aid for trade and that many of the participants had no previous knowledge of the questionnaires. The "Mobilizing Aid for Trade" regional reviews helped to raise awareness, although the audience was predominantly made up of trade ministry officials with insufficient participation by finance and development ministry officials. For this reason, much remains to be done to ensure that the monitoring framework and the role of the questionnaire are understood outside Geneva and across governments.

 

For future consultations with partner countries on the monitoring framework and the questionnaire, the OECD will explore the possibility of holding a few targeted outreach events in key partner countries, either jointly with a partner country government (e.g. a national dialogue meeting to ensure cross-governmental involvement) or with a small group of interested countries (e.g. regional sub-groups).

For more on the OECD regional events see the summary report.

 

Regional OECD Practitioners Fora

: Lima, Peru, 14 September 2007

: Manila, Philippines, 20 September 2007

: Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, 2 October 2007