Report of the Workshop: Aid Effectiveness: “From Paris to Bangkok”

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Report of the Workshop: Aid Effectiveness: “From Paris to Bangkok”

December 19, 2012

As an emerging donor, Thailand has a great opportunity to learn from the successes and failures of traditional donors and adopt international best practices in its delivery of development assistance to other countries in the region and beyond. The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, endorsed by Thailand as well as a number of partner countries and multilateral organizations in 2005, provides a timely set of principles and indicators that can help shape the future of Thailand’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme.

That was the consensus at a one-day workshop on aid effectiveness held in Bangkok on 5 October 2006. The workshop, hosted by the Thailand International Development Cooperation Agency (TICA) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with support from the Delegation of the European Commission (EC) in Thailand, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and in cooperation with the World Bank, was attended by representatives of various government agencies involved in Thailand’s aid programmes, traditional donors, UN agencies and international financial institutions.

The workshop was designed as a forum for dialogue between key national and international partners on Thailand’s role as an emerging donor, on the challenges of the implementation of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (henceforth referred to as the Paris Declaration), and on how the different partners could work together on this endeavour.

The Paris Declaration aims at improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the support provided to developing countries in their quest to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The Paris Declaration puts emphasis on ensuring strong national ownership of development strategies, enhancing alignment of donor support to national plans and systems, establishing greater harmonization among donors, managing aid in a way that achieves real and measurable results, and creating a harmonization framework of mutual accountability for donors and partners countries.

Participants agreed that, as a country that has received international aid in the past, Thailand is in a good position to become an effective donor, with first-hand understanding of the importance of national ownership and coordination among donors. Emphasis was given to the importance of Thailand engaging with other emerging donors that face similar challenges and opportunities in implementing the Paris Declaration.

From the presentations and panel discussions, 12 key policy messages emerged to guide Thailand as it seeks to implement the Paris Declaration and to shape collaboration between Thailand, traditional donors, UN agencies and international financial institutions.

Contents

  • Objectives of the Workshop
  • Organizing partners and participants
  • Thailand’s current ODA programmes
  • Highlights of the Workshop
Document Type
Regions and Countries