An example to be followed

Great Britain is the most exemplary model of international cooperation in Europe, followed by Germany, Holland and Spain. The European Union is the “most important donor”, even if its resources are mainly aimed at countries with average GDP rather than the poorest. Italy, on the contrary, suffers in this field from “immobility” and “sharp crisis”, which it can overcome only by a global reform of its system of cooperation in development. These are some of the findings that emerge from a study commissioned by the Volunteers for International Service (VIS), a NGO linked to the Salesians of Don Bosco, and conducted by the Centre of Studies on International Policy (CESPI). Its findings were presented in Rome on 21 June. The study compares the organizational models of six European countries: Great Britain, France, Germany, Holland, Spain and Denmark. It also examines the international cooperation promoted by the European Commission. The six leading countries in Europe, according to the research, are “traditionally very generous”. “It’s a question not just of finding new resources – said ANTONIO RAIMONDI , President of the VIS – but also of reforming the system of Italian cooperation and equipping it with its own political clout, divorced from foreign policy decisions. We need to pass from optional commitment to actions of government as a real player of international rank, also with the creation of a Ministry for international solidarity and the fight against poverty”. Four main aspects are examined by the survey: financial resources, priorities and objectives, organization and protagonists. THE BEST EXAMPLES. From the research it emerges that Holland and Denmark are “the only countries, among those taken into consideration, that respect the international pledge to allocate 0.7% of national gross domestic product to aid to development by 2015”, explained MARCO ZUPI , deputy director of CESPI. “Great Britain and Germany, among the six countries considered, are those that have made the biggest efforts to adapt their system of aid administration to the new strategic objectives”. Of the six States taken into consideration, France, Germany and Great Britain are the biggest donors in absolute terms, with annual allocations of public aid to development amounting to between 4 and 7 billion dollars during the last four years. Immediately after comes Holland. At the organizational level, Great Britain has the most advanced model, with a special Department for International Development, which has ministerial rank and expresses its political leadership through a Secretary of State for Cooperation. Since 1997 it has been an autonomous institution completely decoupled from foreign policy decisions. THE ROLE OF THE NGOs. With regard to the role and importance of the NGOs in helping to implement national aid policies, and the degree of dialogue with governments, the survey points out a reinforcement of dialogue in France and Spain and a weakening in Denmark and Holland. The big British NGOs play a major role on the European scene. They guide and inspire the activities of protection of rights ( advocacy ), while the Danish and Dutch NGOs have less influence. French and Spanish NGOs on the other hand are gradually assuming a bigger role as protagonists of international development. THE EUROPEAN UNION . The decision-making process within the EU is very complex, “especially for cooperation in development”, notes the study. “If on the one hand the European Commission is responsible for the formulation and implementation of EU development policy, on the other the European Council adopts the policies and is the highest organ of government within the Union”. The EU is however one of the few aid donors to have a global programme. The Convention of Cotonou, and the ALA, MEDA, TACIS and PHARE programmes, are examples of this growing role of Europe in aid to development, with projects and activities throughout the world. “Many countries with average GDP receive EU aid – points out the study – whereas aid to the ACP countries (Africa, Caribbean and Latin America) has decreased”. The VIS-CESPI study denounces, in particular, “a distancing of the EU from the poorest countries and urges a reconsideration of the role of Europe in cooperation in development regarding the general and regional focus of its programmes. The objectives are too vague and not specific and coherent enough”. In sum: “The European Union has become the most important donor, but from an organizational point of view still has a long way to go to achieve the status that distinguishes it in terms of the resources at its disposal. The de-concentration and decentralization of tasks already in progress – suggests the survey – could represent an important change in this direction”.