A side event planned ahead of Senior Level Meeting of Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation in New York
KATHMANDU, July 6: Taking a leadership role in ensuring the effectiveness of the foreign aid which reaches the underdeveloped countries, Nepal is co-hosting a side event ahead of the Senior Level Meeting (SLM) of Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC) in New York.
The primary objective of the event to be organized on the sideline of the GPEDC Senior Level Meeting on July 12 will be to capture the priorities of Asia-Pacific countries on key issues of aid effectiveness being discussed at the GPEDC SLM. “This will be a high-level political event. We expect to have high-level representation from 86 countries from the Asia Pacific region,” said Joint Secretary Shreekrishna Nepal, who heads the International Economic Cooperation Coordination Division at the Ministry of Finance. Nepal is the chair of GPEDC Steering Committee.
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High-level finance ministry officials as well as finance ministers from Bangladesh, Myanmar, the Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia and Japan, among others, have already confirmed their participation in the event supported by the United Nations Development Program, according to government officials.
The GPEDC being held in New York on July 13-14 will have participation of the representatives of donor countries, aid recipient countries and civil society bodies, among others, and they will put forth their views to ensure aid effectiveness. The event -- Taking Stock of Effectiveness of Principles at Country Level: Bringing Evidence from Asia Pacific to the GPEDC Senior Level Meeting-- co-hosted by the Bangladesh government aims to discuss the additional measures that may need to be taken both on the part of donors and recipient countries to ensure aid effectiveness and help the underdeveloped countries to achieve targets set by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Joint Secretary Nepal said there will be presentation of the findings of the study of the measures taken to ensure aid effectiveness in various 86 underdeveloped countries around the world at the event to be co-hosted by the Bangladesh government. The findings of the monitoring round study and evidence-based experiences and best practices shared by the countries from the Asia Pacific in the sideline event will be a set of messages reflecting priorities of Asia-Pacific countries to be brought into deliberations at the SLM of the GPEDC.
The discussion will revolve around the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). “While it is clear that business as usual won't help us to achieve the SDGs, there is still 11 years time for us to improve our ways. There is a whole reorientation in the concept of aid effectiveness globally. This calls for equally important role of private sectors and civil society bodies to achieve aid effectiveness,” Nepal further said.
In a report released recently, the National Planning Commission (NPC) has projected that Nepal will face a financing gap of Rs 585 billion per year to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The apex policy making body of the government said the public sector and the private sector are expected to face financing gaps worth Rs 218.2 billion and Rs 366.8 billion per annum, respectively, to achieve the SDGs.
