Protecting Aid Funds in Unstable Governance Environments - Towards and Integrated Strategy
The Workshop "Protecting Aid Funds in Unstable Governance Environments - Towards and Integrated Strategy" organized by ICS, will be held May 18th and 19th at Sedas Nunes Hall, Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon . For registration please contact Diana Guerreiro dos Reis (diana.reis@ics.ul.pt) or +351 210 804 862
Introduction: The European Union is now the largest donor of development aid, with nearly 60% of world aid and will double its aid to poor and developing nations in Africa and elsewhere by 2010.
At the same time, the EU has put in place a new aid policy framework with a clear reference to anti-corruption measures and good governance. Important steps have been taken to combat the abuse of aid funds and recover funds lost, wrongly paid and used incorrectly.
In December 2005, the European Council, Commission and Parliament reached agreement to the so-called "European Consensus on Development" emphasizing the need to concentrate EU Development assistance and to strengthen financial accountability "to ensure aid effectiveness ". In some cases, donor countries have disengaged, suspended or reduced aid to a country on account of corruption.
The investigation of the misuse of aid requires new approaches and an integrated strategy. This is a new domain for national law enforcers wish requires a solid network of cooperation at the international level as well as an understanding of the dynamics of laws, institutions and procedures across different jurisdictions aimed at protecting development aid against corruption.
This workshop is designed to:
- Introduce law enforcers to this issue and making them a meaningful player in assisting donor agencies to strengthen governance policies in this domain.
- Help donor agencies to build project integrity into their aid operations and to demand higher financial standards from those administering/implementing those moneys (NGO and recipient agencies) ;
- Encourage European humanitarian NGOs to streamline their accountability procedures in accordance with the EC regulations and international best practice.
