The ODA bill, under discussion in the Senate, sketches some positive elements, to be enhanced:
· there is a clear reference to partnership, as starting principle for development interventions, but not mention to ownership;
· aid activities are not necessarily tied;
· Deputy Minister for development cooperation, sitting in the Cabinet, is mentioned;
· multi-year strategy for development cooperation is to be approved by the Cabinet;
· the Minister for Foreign Affairs is responsible for development policy by also setting the Italian strategy towards the Financial institutions and the European development fund and by ensuring coordination;
· an implementing Agency is sketched following special financial regulation;
· there is an initial reference to policy coherence for development.
Unfortunately, the new aid architecture designed by the bill has some limitation and contradiction.
General remarks
The new bill does not reform all aspects included in the current law for development cooperation (Law 49) that is likely to be maintained to regulate issues, such as concessional loans or business partnerships in developing countries. There is no clear cut separation between planning institutions and implementing ones, entailing multiple responsibilities and lengths procedures. For instance, the Interministerial Committee for Development Cooperation (ICDC) not only deals with policy coherence but it mainly approves all development initiatives. Similarly, the Minister for foreign affairs issues very detailed and binding instructions to the implementing Agency.
ICDC – Interministerial Committee for Development Cooperation
• The ICDC’s mandate is too similar to the Minister for foreign Affairs’one, especially on planning, control and coordination. This sets potentials for duplication and conflict.
• Despite an high-level political membership, the ICDC does not fully take part into the strategic phase. It mainly focuses on micro-management, wasting its potential as ministerial forum for policy coherence. Despite its limited technical capacities, the ICDC is tasked to approve all development initiatives. While making no reference to project submission procedure, the bill sketches out a burdensome approval procedure for development activities starting from the ICDC, passing by the Minister and finally to the implementing Agency;
Development cooperation strategy
• The Minister of Finance does not submit any input during the planning phase.
• There is no mention to reduce the disbursement procedure to the development banks.
• The Cabinet does not meaningfully take part into the planning phase.
• The drafted contents of the 3-year strategic document do not mention important political issues such as, country strategies and allocations, debt cancellations, concessional loans and actions for policy coherence.
Pool Fund
• The pool fund does not include all-budget resources for development cooperation but at most 20%.
• The Fund managing authority is not clear, though the implementing agency can use those financial resources.
Development cooperation implementation
• The bill does not make clear who is responsible to implement the development cooperation strategy, as the Minister for foreign affairs is responsible for the whole development policy while the implementing agency is only tasked to carry out limited initiatives.
• The Agency is simply one among the implementing actors within the development system. Even if it is to be defined by specific Government decrees its tasks are too limited, as the Agency is not the main body responsible to implement the approved strategy.
• The bill indirectly forbids any decentralized cooperation, axed on field offices, as it explicitly excludes Agency field offices.
• There is no reference on how the Minister for foreign affairs coordinates development initiatives by the Regions that have only to inform the Agency of their initiatives.
• Responsibility to deal and sign agreement with multilateral organizations is unclear.
• Independent impact evaluation of development policies is completely missed.
Actors in development cooperation
• Civil society is only partially engaged during the planning phase.
• Civil society from partner countries is not mentioned as an actor, with access to the financial resources.
• Private sector is just referred to as partner with, apparently, no role as implementing actor.
In order to ensure the whole reform of development cooperation setting the basis for a coordinated, coherent and efficient system, the bill must deal with all the elements of the current Law; clearly divide between strategic and implementing phase with specific responsibility. Therefore, ActionAid recommends to:
• clearly state that all Italian aid is untied, tough country-local purchases can be preferred (Art 1,2);
• clearly state that development cooperation has to pursue ownership (Art 1,2);
Development cooperation strategy
• have the strategic plan approved by the ICDC, not by the Cabinet (Art 3,2);
• maximize ICDC potential, by focussing its mandate only on assessing policy coherence for development (Art 6-bis);
• allow the Agency to provide support during the planning phase (Art 14,1),
• specifically include debt cancellations, concessional loans, country strategies and allocations, development banks disbursements, and Ministerial actions for policy coherence in the multi-year strategic document (Art 3,2);
• state that the Minister for foreign affairs is responsible for concessional loans (Art 3,3) and for the relations with multilateral institutions (Art 9,1);
• actively engage the Minister of Finance in the planning phase (Art 3,5);
Pool Fund
• clearly set the Agency as the Fund only managing authority (Art 14,3,d);
• include all-budget resources for development cooperation in the Pool Fund, including those for financial institutions and regional development banks (Art 6,2),
• set the Agency to manage the Fund dealing with concessional loans (Art 9,1)
Development cooperation implementation
• enhance the link between the strategic document and the Minister for Foreign Affairs that must control its implementation (Art 3,3);
• state that the Minister for foreign affairs act to coordinate development cooperation initiatives by Regions (Art 12,3–bis);
• set the Agency as being the only body responsible for implementing the multi-year strategic plan ( Art 3,2);
• exclude that the Minister for foreign affairs issue binding instructions about implementation to the Agency (Art 14,3, a),
• simplify the disbursement procedure to development funds and banks, by allowing the Agency to directly disburse following the Minister of finance request and the strategic document instructions (Art 3,5);
• allow the Agency to sign agreement with multilateral agency, whether in line with the planning document (Art 11);
• have the Agency to link with multilateral organizations during the implementing phase;
• have all aid specific initiatives approved by the Agency, in line with the strategic document (Art 14,4 f);
• allow the establishment of Agency field offices to be responsible in implementing the country chapters of the strategic document (Art 14,8);
• establish an independent evaluation office, to assess the impact of bilateral and multilateral initiatives (Art 14,4 e);
Actors in development cooperation
• acknowledge civil society organizations from partner countries among the actors for development cooperation (Art 15);
• make compulsory the opinion by civil society during the planning phase (Art 16,3);
• allow the ICDC to hear civil society to assess policy coherence (Art 6-bis);
• compel the Agency to consult with civil society in sketching the implementing initiatives;
acknowledge private sector as implementing actor, if abiding to ILO standards (Art 15).
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