OAS Hosted Forum on Effective Development Cooperation

Washington, March 10- The Organization of American States (OAS) hosted in Washington, D.C., the "Forum on Effective Development Cooperation," which brought together stakeholders involved in the formulation and implementation of cooperation policies for development in the Americas, to share experiences and knowledge, discuss objectives in the medium and long term, and to make specific recommendations on the issues on the post-2015 development agenda.

The Forum, organized by the OAS Executive Secretariat for Integral Development and the Secretariat for External Relations, gathered more than 20 delegations of member states, along with representatives of regional and international organizations and members of academia to discuss, analyze and share specific examples on the challenges faced by middle-income countries, the role of the private sector, and South-South and triangular cooperation.

The event, held with the financial support of the Canadian government and facilitated by the Inter-American Cooperation Network, was prepared taking into account the main thematic currently discussed in global forums on development, especially with regards to the role of actors, such as the private and academic sectors, in contribution to the cooperation agenda.

In opening the event, the OAS Assistant Secretary General, Ambassador Albert Ramdin, said that “in an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world, a growing number of non-state actors have become important partners in development, united in their efforts to find solutions to complex, multi-faceted challenges”.

The OAS high-level official also recalled that the rapid pace of change requires "flexible strategies and solutions to meet the ever-evolving demands of societies, especially in middle-income countries”.

Ambassador Ramdin referred to the OAS work in the area of cooperation and said that until now the Organization “has adopted an inclusive approach towards cooperation, based on the understanding that all member states have experiences and knowledge to share and exchange. This inclusive approach is aligned with what is expected for the post-2015 agenda and goes beyond the Millennium Development Goals.” He added that on the path toward a new global partnership for development, “private actors are acknowledged as key partners in development and are critical to increasing countries’ self-reliance and sustainable growth”.

“Our challenge here today, as high-level representatives of ministries and public agencies, the private sector, academia, and international organizations is to facilitate a transition toward more innovative and sustainable economies, which will help achieve development goals and strengthen the economies of the Hemisphere,” he asserted.

In closing, the OAS official encouraged the forum participants to use the meeting as an opportunity “to analyze new forms of cooperation between their respective countries and institutions, which can promote greater integration aimed at identifying win-win solutions for all when facing common development challenges”.

The results of the Forum will serve as an input to the First Ministerial Meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation that will take place in Mexico City in April. That meeting will look at ways to strengthen the role of business in supporting development, to scale up development knowledge sharing, and to strengthen the countries’ efforts for domestic resource mobilization.

The event also counted with the participation of the Permanent Representative of Grenada to the OAS, Ambassador Angus Friday; the Permanent Representative of Trinidad and Tobago to the OAS, Ambassador Neil Parsan; the Alternate Representative of Canada to the OAS, Charlotte McDowell; the OAS Executive Secretary for Integral Development, Sherry Tross; the OAS Secretary of External Relations, Alfonso Quiñonez; and the Advisor on Multilateral Affairs of the Ministry of Economy, Planning, and Development of the Dominican Republic and Chair of the Management Board of the Inter-American Agency for Cooperation and Development (IACD), América Bastidas Castañeda.

Also present at the meeting were the Director-General for Technical and Scientific Cooperation of the Mexican Agency for International Cooperation for Development (AMEXCID), Ambassador Bruno Figueroa; the Lecturer and Senior Fellow at the Wharton Business School and Adviser at the World Bank, Dr. Djordjija Petkoski; the Director of the Information Center on International Cooperation (CEPEI), Philipp Schönrock; the President of the Center of Analysis for Development with Impact (CADI), Lidia Fromm Cea; the Director General for Multilateral Cooperation of the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development of the Dominican Republic, Antonio Vargas Hernández; the Director of the Bureau for Latin America of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Adreana Hayes; the Head of Planning and Strategic Alliances of UNACEM Association, María Hinostroza Santolalla, and the Executive Director of the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America, José Raúl Perales.