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   Summary 13 (14-20 August)


FOLLOWING IS A MACHINE TRANSLATION OF THE ORIGINAL IN FRENCH. IT HAS BEEN EDITED FOR MISTRANSLATION ONLY. THE ORIGINAL IN FRENCH IS AVAILABLE ON THIS WEB SITE AT: <http://www.ue-acp.org/fr/forum/syntheses/synt13.html>

KEY WORDS: PROGRESS OF THE DEBATE

* * Title: Summary 13 (14-20 August) * *

by: Anne SIMON <anne.simon@skynet.be>
<http://www.ue-acp.org/fr/forum/presentations/simon.html>

°°° Abstract:
To start out from the local level is a necessary condition to a real development. But wareful with the myth or drifts of the " all local " which must not overlook the existence of other actors than the classic " actors " or of other levels of intervention. The balances are fragile, and the power struggle is also present elsewhere.
For a strategy encouraging the local development to be really set up, the political determination must be clear and must be the object of a consensus. Principles must be discussed (delegation of financial skills for example).
To start out and to act at a local level are a means to increase the control of the public aid to the development.

Life of the forum: A downloadable text presenting the progress of negotiations between the EU and the ACP group on the future partnership framework is proposed on the Web site. A call to collaboration for research on quality criteria of NGO projects is launched by a participant. °°°



1. To start out from the local level,

For René Segbenou, development is initiated by those who take the decision of it at a local level and who have the determination of it. However there is not currently in Africa a "serious strategy" of cooperation aiming to give a central position to local actors. In the absence of such a determination, the "social funds" bases are only better than nothing, which cannot make possible a real development. To start out from the local level is a condition of the development.

Denis Pesche puts us on guard against a too big idealization of cooperation at a local level. It is necessary to take account of power struggles existing at this level or the difficult questions of identification and legitimacy of local actors. The different forms of dialogue and dialogue that one advocates are often very complex to implement between different types of actors with divergent logics and interests. Yet they are essential at the horizontal level (not limited to the classic actors of cooperation). They must be accompanied by practices of negotiation, of mechanisms of arbitration, of creation of rules. It is necessary to mistrust of a tendency to the exclusive "all civil society" or to "all local actors" which would lead to disregarding the role of the state and the administration (as much on the part of nongovernmental organizations as on that of cooperation bi or multilateral institutions).

Short of these remarks, for the two intervening parties, to start out from the local level supposes "a common political determination UE/ACP to develop a new strategy" or "a renovated culture of cooperation". To succeed the involvement of all is necessary, including officers of the European Commission.

René Segbenou proposes that this new strategy results on the one hand in the allocation of the cooperation budget (15 to 20% of the EDF for example) to the learning and the development of decentralized cooperation. It would be necessary for this that one creates systems of learning of the local development (dialogue, negotiation, programming of actions, execution...) encouraging exchanges and mutual support. Institutions of cooperation must not play "witch-apprentices" of the evolutions local socio-politics. They must not act "in lieu and place " of local actors. Denis Pesche wonders if the delegation of funds could make possible to avoid such a drift.

René Segbenou recalls that to associate local actors to actions of cooperation as early as their conception makes possible a true control of the aid. information on the genesis, the cost of investments is shared by the different intervening parties and recipients. Which allows the different interested parties to play, according to their responsibilities, their role in the execution, the control of operations, to ask eventually for accounts. The system of information should cover the whole of the action and no longer be limited to events ("one is therefore not informed only at the end, at the inauguration ").

2. life of the forum,

2.1. Negotiation of the future EU-ACP partnership,

You will find on the Web site a document of information on the progress of negotiations in view of the renewal of the partnership between the European Union and the ACP States <http://www.ue-acp.org/en/documents/tfn080799.html>. This document has been transmitted by Task-force negotiations of the European Commission. The moderator has presented the contents and a summary of the lines of proposal of the European Commission <http://www.ue-acp.org/en/forum/archives/1999-08/msg00016.html>.

2.2. Call to collaboration: Changing practices and procedures (NGO joint financing),

Following the different works concerning quality criteria of "NGO joint financing" projects, François Milis launches on the forum a call to collaboration <http://www.ue-acp.org/en/forum/archives/1999-08/msg00015.html>.

Different networks began research on new criteria and indicators which could make possible to define the quality of a project in terms of participatory process, of local anchorage, of citizens expression. Participating in one of these networks, he proposes to interested participants of the forum to contribute to this research or to publicize results of it. The expected objective is to help the different financial backers in particular units of NGO joint financing to improve their criteria of selection and follow-up.



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