Advances in multilateral trade reforms remained elusive during the WTO Ministerial Meeting in Hong Kong in December 2005. However, a roadmap agreed to at Hong Kong requires agreement on the most divisive issues--for agriculture and industrial products--by April 2006, and finalization by October 2006. Other outcomes of the meetings were modest, and included phasing out of agricultural subsidies by 2013 subject to disciplining equivalent programs such as food aid. Developed country members will provide duty-free and quote-free access to products from the 50 Least Developed Countries by 2008, but will likely limit it to 97 percent of tariff lines, significantly undermining the value of the commitment. Website.

Over 150 heads of state and government and over 900 ministers came together in September 2005 at the United Nations (UN) in New York to take stock of progress in implementing the 2000 Millennium Declaration, and to decide on concrete steps towards realizing the Millennium Development Goals and the reform of the UN. 191 UN member-states signed the 2005 World Summit Outcome, a 40-page document which reflects the minimum consensus in the areas of development, peace and security, human rights and UN reform.

On development issues, commitments include:

• strong commitment to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015
• additional $50 billion a year by 2010 for fighting poverty
• commitment by all developing countries to adopt national plans for achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2006
• agreement to provide immediate support for quick impact initiatives to support anti-malaria efforts, education, and healthcare
• commitment to innovative sources of financing for development, including efforts by groups of countries to implement an International Finance Facility and other initiatives to finance development projects, in particular in the health sector
• agreement to consider additional measures to ensure long-term debt sustainability through increased grant-based financing, cancellation of 100 per cent of the official multilateral and bilateral debt of HIPCs, and where appropriate, to consider significant debt relief or restructuring for low and middle income developing countries with unsustainable debt burdens that are not part of the HIPC initiative
• commitment to trade liberalization and expeditious work towards implementing the development dimensions of the Doha work program.  Website.
  
  

Under the UK presidency, the focus of the annual G-8 Summit in 2005 was on Africa and climate change. Several initiatives were launched at the G-8 Summit in Gleneagles:

• increasing aid to Africa by $25 billion a year by 2010--more than doubling assistance to the region--and to all developing countries by about $50 billion.
• extending and deepening debt relief to the poorest countries - the G-8 proposal, the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative, aims to cancel the roughly $50 billion of debt owed by the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) to the African Development Fund, IDA and the IMF and
• without concrete promises, recognizing the urgency of addressing threats from greenhouse gas emissions and launch a new G-8 dialogue on climate change, clean energy, and sustainable development.

Leaders also endorsed a call for increased "aid for trade".  Website.

The Paris High-Level Forum was hosted by the French Government on February 28 - March 2, 2005 and attended by development officials and ministers from 91 countries, 26 donor organizations, representatives of civil society organizations and the private sector. In the concluding statement — the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness — the Ministers as well as the heads of multilateral and bilateral development institutions committed their countries and institutions to far-reaching and monitorable actions to significantly increase aid effectiveness. Special reference is made in the document to the need for harmonization in emergency and complex situations such as the tsunami disaster and fragile states.

The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness is presented in three sections: the Statement of Resolve set out in Section I, the Partnership Commitments stated in Section II and twelve Indicators of Progress listed in Section III. Before September 2005, the five preliminary targets to be achieved by 2010 will be reviewed, and specific quantitative targets for the remaining seven indicators will be adopted. Two rounds of monitoring of these commitments are envisaged before meeting in a developing country in 2008 to review progress in implementing this Declaration.

Commitments from the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness include:

• Developing countries will exercise effective leadership over their development policies, strategies, and to coordinate development actions
• Donor countries will base their overall support on receiving countries' national development strategies, institutions, and procedures
• Donor countries will work so that their actions are more harmonized, transparent, and collectively effective
• All countries will manage resources and improve decision-making for results
• Donor and developing countries pledge that they will be mutually accountable for development results.  Website.
  
  

The Second International Roundtable on Managing for Development Results took place on 4-5 February 2004 in Marrakech, Morocco. The Roundtable was sponsored by the multilateral development banks - the African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank - in collaboration with the Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The Roundtable brought together representatives from developing countries and development agencies to discuss the challenges of managing for development results at the country level and the ways in which countries and development agencies are addressing these issues on the ground. Participants assessed progress since the First Roundtable, which took place in Washington, D.C. in June 2002, and talked about how they can continue to strengthen country and agency commitments to harmonize monitoring and evaluation around national strategies and systems, in order to provide useful reporting on results. They also reflected on how donors can better coordinate support to strengthen the planning, statistical systems, and monitoring and evaluation capacity that countries need to manage their development process.

As a final outcome of the Roundtable, the heads of the multilateral development banks and the Chairman of the OECD's Development Assistance Committee endorsed common principles on managing for development results, including a commitment to specific actions for 2004.  Website.

In February 2003, leaders of the major multilateral development banks and international and bilateral organizations, and donor and recipient country representatives gathered in Rome for the high-level forum on harmonization. They committed to take action to improve the management and effectiveness of aid, and to take stock of concrete progress, before meeting again in early 2005.

The Forum's concluding statement, the Rome Declaration, sets out an ambitious program of activities:

• Ensure that harmonization efforts are adapted to the country context, and that donor assistance is aligned with the development recipient's priorities.
• Expand country-led efforts to streamline donor procedures and practices.
• Review and identify ways to adapt institutions' and countries' policies, procedures, and practices to facilitate harmonization.
• Implement the good practices principles and standards formulated by the development community as the foundation for harmonization.  Website.