BRUSSELS / 08.05 2012 / 5TH EDITION

CONCEPT NOTE

Policy Coherence for Development Context The Stakeholders Meeting of the Belgian Development Cooperation is an annual forum that brings together political leaders, governmental actors, civil society and the universities. This event has a dual objective. Firstly, it serves as a source of information on international challenges that development cooperation faces. Secondly, it examines political and organisational policy aspects relating to the Belgian context, and provides suggestions for the Belgian Development Cooperation.

The fifth Stakeholders Meeting of Belgian Development Cooperation will take place at the Egmont Palace in Brussels on 8 May 2012. It forms a part of the “Days of the Belgian Development Cooperation”, information and networking week organised by the Directorate-General for Development Cooperation (DGD). Preparation and organisation are carried out jointly by the DGD and the representatives from NGOs, unions and universities.

In the general policy statement of 1 December 2011, the Belgian government commits to establishing an “inter-ministerial conference” with the aim of ensuring greater policy coherence for development (PCD) in Belgium. In addition, the general policy document of the Ministry for Development Cooperation anticipates moving forward with setting up institutional mechanisms to ensure coherence between different policies to promote development.

Objectives The fifth edition of the Stakeholders Meeting will both serve as an opportunity for the Minister for Cooperation to gather information about the main issues concerning policy coherence for development and will also allow him to make concrete proposals in relation to this key question. The Stakeholders Meeting 2012 will therefore serve as a platform of exchange and dialogue for developing policy and institutional measures in the area of policy coher-ence for development in the Belgian context.

Policy coherence should not be confused with coordination of actions or positions taken by different actors in a particular policy area. Belgium has several mechanisms for the coordination of foreign policy, including development cooperation. However, there is no efficient mechanism that fulfils the need to ensure the coherence of different policies that impact the development of countries in the southern hemisphere.

The OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) assesses the quality of Belgian Policy Coherence for Development as follows: “policy coherence for development has often been misinterpreted as the co-ordination among the various entities that deliver Belgian aid, rather than the coherence of domestic and foreign policies with development goals. An explicit policy statement, endorsed at the highest political level, is therefore needed. It should confirm all ministries’ commitment to policy coherence for development and outline how they will promote this. Belgium should also promote a better understanding amongst government entities and the wider public of what policy coherence for development actually means”

The DAC also recommends that Belgium “Identify the institutional framework and tools it will use to implement and monitor it and to report on it”. The Stakeholder Meeting will be an excellent opportunity to discuss and formulate a response to the challenges highlighted by the OECD.

In the case of Belgium, policy in many domains that impact the developing countries is determined at either the European level, Belgian federal level or at the level of the Belgian regions. Sometimes the competencies are shared between the different levels. The EU has identified, within the context of its policy coherence for development framework, five priority areas to be promoted at both EU and member state level: trade and finance, climate change, food security, migration and security.

The Stakeholders Meeting will aim to assess the level of impact such policy has on development and how it can be made more coherent with the development objectives. In this context, the Stakeholders Meeting aims to:

• Clarify the framework within which the concept of PCD is situated: coherence between the various policy areas, but with what objective?

• Identify mechanisms through which Belgium can establish an institutional framework for fostering PCD.

The Stakeholders Meeting will provide a space to articulate and listen to the analyses and proposals of international actors and non-governmental organisations on how to achieve a better Policy Coherence for Development.

The work of the Stakeholders Meeting should contribute to real progress in the area of PCD in Belgium. The recommendations coming from the discussions will be submitted to the Minister for Development Cooperation, so that he can take them into account for the analytical, policy as well as the operational aspects of the implementa-tion mechanisms.

To facilitate this process, the organisers will ensure that background notes are prepared for the different sessions.

Programme schedule, format and methodology The Stakeholder Meeting will start with an opening address by Princess Mathilde, the Minister Magnette.

Subsequently a High-level session will be held.

The meeting will take place in three languages, English, French and Dutch. There will be simultaneous interpretation. So the speakers can make their presentation in any of these languages.

The preparation of the meeting is being undertaken within a working group with representatives from government and civil society.

1. High level session:

Audience: around 400 people. Duration: 2.30 hours (including coffee break) The purpose of this plenary session is to present the broad issues relating to policy coherence for develop-ment with examples of incoherence and the impact on development. Two of three international guests will be invited to offer international exposure to the Belgian analysis (opening presentations).

The plenary session will deal with the following elements:

• Why is policy coherence for development necessary? What should the notion of coherence imply? • The debate at the international level: OECD, United Nations, Center for Global Development, etc. • The debate at the European level (PCD): how is PCD taken into account by the institutions

(European Commission) as well as the Council and the Parliament: a critical analysis of the existing mechanisms?

An initial reaction will come from Belgian stakeholders such as Members of Parliament, NGOs and trade unions. The audience is invited to react and an interactive debate will be conducted by a moderator.

The sessions are supposed to take about two hours. That is one hour for the opening presentations (maximum 15 minutes) as well as three initial reactions (maximum 10 minutes) and one hour for questions and debate with the public. The moderator and chair of the session will have instructions to strictly limiting the initial presentations/reactions to the requested timing.

Lunch will be organised on site (one hour thirty minutes).

2. Workshops

The afternoon will be organised around three parallel workshops. Each workshop will be supervised by a moderator. Speakers will introduce the issues for debate. There will be a minutes-taker in each workshop.

The workshops will be working sessions aimed at building on the morning’s discussions to formulate some concrete proposals. In this way, the workshops will, on the one hand, allow for a debriefing on the themes in which incoherence is evident and, on the other hand, make suggestions regarding the institutional mechanisms and tools for fostering policy coherence for development in Belgium.

Workshop 1: The issue of policy coherence for Developpement: food security and the right to food. This workshop will examine how member state or European agricultural or climate policies can impact food secu-rity in developing countries. The production and use of bio-fuels can constitute a real threat to development. De-

forestation, land grabbing and endangering local production are often, albeit certainly unintentionally, the per-verse effects of European and member state policies aimed at protecting the interests of European farmers or achieving climate change targets. The Workshop will look at 1) the issue at European level; 2) the issue in Belgium.

Workshop 2: This workshop will examine the impact of the activities of European companies in developing coun-tries in terms of the creation of added value, employment, enhancing capabilities and mobilising domestic re-sources, looking at: 1) the issue at European level; 2) the issue in Belgium

Workshop 3: Which institutional structures for assuring policy coherence for development? This workshop will examine, based on the legal and institutional aspects, how Belgium can adopt a concrete mechanism in order to foster policy coherence for development. A review of “good practices” in Europe will help to inform the debate on the formulation, assessment and supervision of such a mechanism.

The sessions are supposed to take about two hours. The moderator of the session will have instructions to limiting the initial presentations and ensuring inter-active and productive debates among the speakers and with the public.

To facilitate networking, a half hour coffee break is planned after the workshops. During the closing plenary ses-sion, the moderator for each of the workshops will give the main elements and conclusions of the respective debate. Afterwards, the participants will have the opportunity to make general observations. The day will con-clude with an overall summary provided by the main actors involved. This summary will contain the key elements in terms of recommendations for the Minister, and areas to follow up for the implementation of concrete measures.