Monthly Highlights from ECDPM's Talking Points Blog, GREAT Insights, Volume 2, Issue 4 (May-June 2013)

Mali donors’ conference: towards low cost solutions?,Talking Points, Damien Helly, 16 May 2013 Yesterday’s donors’ conference on Mali organised in Brussels by the EU and France “in close coordination with Mali” pledged over 3 billion euros. It gathered several hundreds representatives from all over the Sahel region, Western Africa, and the world, but was it just another donor-recipient show? The statements made today following the conference will inevitably be equally frustrating, but will the glass be half full or half empty? An electoral renaissance? In many respects, the glass is half full because the country is said to be half way to its next presidential elections, which are (...)

Doing better on EU visibility – lessons for the EEAS Review, Talking Points, Andrew Sherriff, 15 May 2013 Visibility, everyone wants it, but how well are they achieving it? The EU is consistently criticised for low visibility on its external action, and now the European Parliament is calling for the issue to be dealt with in the on-going Review of the European External Action Service. This blog asks: what has actually been learned from efforts to promote EU visibility in external action? Surprisingly in 2010 the European Commission tasked what was formerly the Joint Evaluation Unit for External Relations to provide an answer to this very question.. ECDPM, along with DRN, led the (...)

Africa, Europe and its rivals in love, Talking Points, Sahra El Fassi, 8 May 2013 On May 25 this year, the African Union celebrates its golden jubilee anniversary in Addis Ababa. The event will be marked by numerous milestones, and is under the theme of Pan Africanism and African Renaissance. Beyond the confetti, however, there is a desire for the next 50 years to be sung to a better tune: one that is based on improved socio-economic opportunities, peace and political stability on the continent. One that builds upon constructive and strategic partnerships with old partners and newcomers that match the interests and the needs of the continent. The African Union (...)

The impact of European Commission support to private sector development (PSD)? We’re still none the wiser, Talking Points, Bruce Byiers, 3 May 2013 Bruce Byiers blogs about an evaluation that is heavy in terms of pages, but light on recommendations With ever-increasing pressure for donors to “show impact” for their aid programmes, there was a lot of interest in last week’s presentation of the Evaluation of EC Support to Private Sector Development in Third Countries from 2004 to 2010. But what can the European Commission (EC) actually take from this evaluation? The report estimates that the EC spent €2.4bn directly on PSD over the period (plus €4.5bn if you count indirect support through general budget support and the (...) - 

This article was published in Great Insights Volume 2, Issue 4 (May-June 2013)