What transpired at the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra?
The 1700 people who came to Accra for the big aid effectiveness conference this week are packing their bags, but the agreement they managed to cobble together here looks to leave a lasting impact. More than 100 ministers were on hand here for what many called a watershed. As I noted in an earlier posting, the Accra conference was preceded by a major conference of civil society organizations (CSOs). Then starting on Tuesday at the official conference, 82 CSOs were given seats and played a major role in the proceedings. That CSO presence, combined with a strong push from some of the official delegations here, produced an agreement that goes much further than ever before towards transparency, civil society engagement, and fostering stronger developing country leadership in the $100 billion-a-year international aid business. “One of the hallmarks of Accra has been the CSO inclusiveness here,” Antonio Tujan, chair of the CSO Steering Group that was highly active in preparing for the Accra c
