Karin Ulmer, Concord‘s representative at the third Brussels Briefing identified drawing lessons from the past to help design appropriate trade mechanisms for the future as a key challenge in this area.
She identified three main lessons. First, local decision making is critical, and the importance of the ownership of aid programmes by beneficiaries can’t be neglected. There need to be opportunities and mechanisms that foster country ownership. By the same token, Aid forTrade should be connected to emerging trade deals in a more integrated approach.
Second, there is no one right answer. Each situation, each country or region has its own specificities and requirements. We need to avoid standard recipes.
Third, we need to remember that “partnership is a two way street.” Donors have to become accountable to the beneficiaries; trade deals that aim to integrate developing countries in the global economy need to be “go hand in hand with the delivery of aid and supply capacity to those countries.”
Links:
Background note (pdf format)
Summary of presentation (doc format)
See more from the 5 December briefing
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