AidWatch Philippines | The forum, to be held in Busan, South Korea in November, is considered crucial because it will supposedly define the new direction of aid and development cooperation.

As the global community prepares for the much-anticipated High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF4), Philippine civil society groups urge the government to name the members of its official delegation. Groups under AidWatch Philippines said that the Department of Finance (DOF), lead agency to the HLF4, has yet to make public the composition of the Philippine delegation. The forum, to be held in Busan, South Korea in November, is considered crucial because it will supposedly define the new direction of aid and development cooperation. AidWatch is part of the multi-stakeholders Technical Working Group (TWG) composed of the government, donor agencies and CSOs that have already started laying down aid issues and key messages to be submitted as the “Philippine statement for the HLF4”. The Council for People’s Development and Governance (CPDG), a member of AidWatch, also earlier called for an inclusive composition of the official Philippine delegation wherein affected sectors and other multi-stakeholders are members. AidWatch and CPDG particularly urged DOF Secretary Cesar Purisima to include in the delegation CSOs that are active in development aid and are directly working with grassroots organizations, as well as progressive lawmakers who are working on aid reform. Other groups, such as the media, should also be included in the official delegation. AidWatch, CPDG and network organizations also call on the Philippine government to stress in the Busan HL4 the issues of poverty alleviation, human rights, gender equality, social justice and environmental sustainability as basis for a broader partnership for development effectiveness and development cooperation. (end)

For reference: Jaz Lumang, AidWatch coordinator 1 AidWatch Philippines is a broad network of 160 grassroots-based NGOs and civil society networks involve in the promotion of aid and development effectiveness in over 60 provinces in the Philippines. IBON Foundation is secretariat of the AidWatch. 2 The Council for People’s Development and Governance (CPDG) is a broad and diverse national network based in the Philippines of national-sectoral and regional networks of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and people’s organizations (POs) engaged in development work. CPDG engages in the CSO development effectiveness process.