Comparing Ireland s, Belgium s and The Netherlands new Development Policies

Transcription

1 Comparing Ireland s, Belgium s and The Netherlands new Development Policies Paolo Magnetti, for Dóchas 6/1/2013

2 Contents INTRODUCTION... 3 Aim of Report... 3 CHANGES TO POLICY FROM PREVIOUS EDITIONS... 3 Rationale and analysis of core development issues... 3 IRISH POLICY... 4 DUTCH POLICY... 5 BELGIAN POLICY... 6 MECHANISMS FOR ACCOUNTABILITY... 7 DEGREE TO WHICH CORE ELEMENTS OF DOCHAS SUBMISSION TO WHITE PAPER IS REFLECTED IN POLICIES... 9 Rights based approaches to development... 9 The role of civil society... 9 Policy coherence Public engagement, development education and volunteering Disability, Gender, Food Security and HIV & AIDS Gender Food Security Disability HIV&AIDS Role of the Private Sector SUMMARY OF NGO SECTOR ANALYSIS OF AND RESPONSE TO NEW POLICIES NETHERLANDS: BELGIUM: Concluding Remarks

3 INTRODUCTION Aim of Report The aim of this report is to detail the key elements of the Development policies published in 2013 by the Irish, Belgian and Dutch Governments, and the main points raised by NGOs in Belgium and the Netherlands in response to the new policies. These countries are the most recent government statements on Development in the European Union, and by analysing them we can gauge the current thinking about Development more broadly. The report is intended to provide an input into Dóchas internal discussions about Irish Development Policy by providing a context and point of reference concerning current EU Government thinking about development cooperation. The launch of the White Paper in 2006 set out how and why Ireland invests in development cooperation. In the intervening years Irish Aid carried out a wide public consultation process to improve and strengthen the foundations set out in the White Paper. Dóchas contribution to this process was a submission to the review of the White Paper in Irish Aid (Feb 2011). Irish Aid launched their new Policy for International Development in May The Dutch Cabinet approved a new policy document on the future of its development cooperation programme in April of this year, emphasizing the linkages between aid, trade and investment. What the world deserves: A new agenda for aid, trade and investment embraces three ambitions: to eradicate extreme poverty within a generation; to promote sustainable and inclusive growth across the globe; and to facilitate success for Dutch companies doing business abroad. The new policy launched by the Belgian Government on the 13 th of March this year strengthens and enhances the legal framework to take into account the changed international context. Sustainable human development is reconfirmed as an objective with a rights-based approach (political, economical and socio-cultural human rights, the right to development). The new policy updates the Law on Belgian International Cooperation which was signed into existence by the House of Representatives in May CHANGES TO POLICY FROM PREVIOUS EDITIONS Rationale and analysis of core development issues When Ireland launched its White Paper on Development in 2006 the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness of 2005 was very much in vogue in terms of influencing how donor countries work with developing countries to better coordinate and streamline activities at the country level. The Paris Declaration was a comprehensive attempt to change the way donor and developing countries did business together based on the principles of partnership. Some of the main principles of the declaration included: improving recipient countries ownership of development policies and strategies, maximising donors coordination and harmonisation and improving aid transparency and mutual accountability of donors and recipients. Post Paris the EU Consensus on Development launched in 2006 also influenced many donor countries such as Ireland. The consensus set out the principle of 3

4 promoting joint efforts of EU member states to ensure coherence, complementarity and coordination in implementing overseas aid programmes. The idea being that like minded donors would maximise the value and impact of aid funding by making sure support is provided in a manner which complies with EU development objectives. If we fast forward to the present the traditional group, of like minded donors ('Nordic plus' Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland plus UK, Ireland, Netherlands, is no longer like-minded. There is now a lack of consensus on what development model or paradigm should prevail. There is real diversity in the approaches of different Euro donors often due to a real difference in the political leanings of the current governments the recently elected coalition in the Netherlands wishes to synergise trade and development policy. It observes changes in the economic world order with the rise of emerging economies -- and points to the need for the Dutch as a trading nation to profit better from growth in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The Dutch want to transition from an aid to a trade relationship with an increasing number of countries. The economic and trade agenda, and national interests, are driving the aid agenda much more so. There has been a sudden and dramatic change in the global economic reality over the last number of years which has affected the economic landscape. This shift in economic concentration is reflected in the new emerging economies such as China, Brazil and India which are driving global economic growth and sharing their knowledge through increased South-South economic cooperation. This has impacted on donor countries in terms of how they will implement development programmes in the future. Africa which was previously viewed by many as requiring vast amounts of project funding and grants is now looked to for business and trade opportunities. Dependency on aid is reducing as domestic tax revenues have overtaken aid flows. In % of government revenue in Zambia came from aid compared to 44% in IRISH POLICY The new Policy for International Development is more focused than the original White Paper of 2006 in terms of guiding and leading all of Ireland s development efforts across Government. The policy provides greater clarity through its Whole-of-Government approach to development. There is a greater prioritisation of areas including a strong poverty focus, delivering a quality aid programme and stronger partnership ties. Unlike the Dutch policy it is not overtly focussed on economic aid, the policy commits Ireland to continuing the principle of untied aid and insofar as is possible to ensuring that its support is predictable and does not displace other forms of development funding available. There is also a commitment to maintain the current aid budget despite the current economic climate and to achieving the UN target of 0.7% of GNI when the economy improves. By contrast, the Netherlands have cut ODA spending to below the 0.7% target for the first time since 1975 and Belgium s contribution to ODA spending was 0.47% in significantly down from its highest point of 0.64% attained in There is specific reference to focusing on fragile states and increasing the impact in Key Partner Countries by focusing on a smaller number of sectors and reviewing support to multilateral organisations. This is in line with a greater emphasis being put on accountability 4

5 and transparency across all of Irish Aid s programmes. There is a firm commitment to more compliance with internal and more importantly external scrutiny of Ireland s development performance. Three main goals: Reduced Hunger, Stronger Resilience, Sustainable development, inclusive economic growth, Better Governance, human rights and accountability Six Priority Areas Global Hunger Fragile states Climate change and development Trade and economic growth Essential services Human rights and accountability DUTCH POLICY Since 2010, Dutch development policy has undergone far-reaching reforms: partner countries have been reduced from 33 to 15, ten of them in Sub-Saharan Africa. The focus of cooperation is shifting from the social to the economic sector, and the involvement of Dutch business has increased in importance. Economic growth is now seen as the central driver of development and as key to reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 1. The new Dutch government, in office since November 2012, is a coalition of the Conservative-Liberal People s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the Social- Democratic Labour Party (PvdA). The government considers development as an integral part of Dutch foreign policy, and plans to align development more strongly with foreign trade. For example the Minister for Development Assistance is now the Minister for Foreign Trade and International Development. Bilateral cooperation continues to concentrate on four sectors that the government considers relevant for poverty reduction, to which the Netherlands can add value through expertise and which are of interest to Dutch businesses, civil society organizations, and research institutions. These sectors also referred to as spearheads are (1) security and the rule of law, (2) water management, (3) food security, and (4) sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Gender equality, environment and good governance remain the Netherlands cross-cutting priorities. The 2011 DAC peer review 2 sees the risk of Dutch development cooperation becoming too closely linked to Dutch economic interests so that these may overrule development objectives. This assessment is shared by civil society, pointing out the danger in giving more importance to national economic interests than to improving living conditions for the poor. In its policy the Dutch Government acknowledged that its influence on the world stage is decreasing due to the emergence of new actors. Its relations with low- and -middle-income OECD DAC (2011): The Netherlands, Peer Review 2011, http// p.25 5

6 countries are on a more equal footing now that an increasing number are not only recipients of aid but also trading partners. And it concludes that it is becoming increasingly difficult to use aid to exert influence on poverty and equity issues. The policy will strive for sustainable, inclusive growth through working on issues such as food security, water, security, migration, climate and trade. The Dutch Government believes that the shift in economic dominance of the Western world and the emergence of new actors in the world stage as well as the perceived decrease in world poverty has necessitated a call for a new aid, trade and investment agenda. In the light of this call the Dutch will pursue three important aims; firstly, to eradicate extreme poverty in a single generation; second, sustainable inclusive growth all over the world; and third, success for Dutch enterprises abroad. This third aim has attracted some criticism particularly when viewed in light of what The Netherlands has to say on Policy Coherence where Dutch development policy is closely linked to coherence of foreign trade policy. The Netherlands clearly states that aid and trade can be beneficial to itself and to low-and- middle income countries with which it has both commercial and aid relationships. It states that in situations where a conflict of interest arises, the government will opt for the solution that delivers the best result for the Dutch economy. Observers have commented that this is a cynical position adopted by the Dutch and is a more self serving way of dealing with the issue and is seen not as a step towards more policy coherence but a move away from the idea. 3 Recent political developments in the Netherlands and the global economic crisis have seen aid to the health and education sector declining in recent years and there is a general trend to transfer aid from social sectors towards stimulating economic growth. While economic growth in developing countries is of vital importance, the primary goal of ODA is to fight poverty and inequality worldwide. A stronger private sector can support the sustainability and inclusiveness of economic growth, but it remains an instrument of development cooperation, not a goal. Therefore, the challenge for the Dutch Government s revised development budget aimed at private sector development in developing countries should primarily support an enabling environment and make sure businesses are acting in a socially responsible way. 4 BELGIAN POLICY The new Law on International Cooperation and Development launched on the 13 th of March this year strengthens and enhances the legal framework to take into account the changing international context. The new law was very much influenced by the Paris Declaration and the EU Consensus on Development. It is worthwhile to keep in mind that the Law was debated by parliament and passed by a majority to become a binding piece of legislation and as such it holds more weight than both the Irish and Dutch policies which are only policy statements without the legal and constitutional backing of the respective legislatures. In fact Ireland s policy paper was not even debated by parliament. 3 Interview with Owen Barder, Centre for Global Development, June

7 One of the main challenges of the new policy was to modernise the law to incorporate new developments such as aid effectiveness and to build an institutional framework that would promote greater Policy Coherence for Development. The revised law is a response to the need for improved Policy Coherence within Belgium s Aid Programme which proposes to create an inter-ministerial conference on PCD. The Law also provides for the establishment of a National Advisory Council on Policy Coherence which will review and evaluate Belgium s efforts at coordinating policy form various Ministerial Departments. Joint programming is also proposed at the financial level to improve collaboration between Belgium s Ministries of Finance and International Cooperation. This is in line with the EU s recommendations on Policy Coherence for Development but differs to Ireland s efforts to adopt a whole-ofgovernment approach which is more an aspiration rather than a constitutional law. Through these processes the fundamental objectives of Belgian cooperation have been updated (looking beyond the Millennium Development Goals). Following on from the 1999 Law on Belgian International Development, sustainable human development is reconfirmed as an objective with a rights-based approach (political, economical and socio-cultural human rights, the right to development). Special attention has been given to the fight against equality and exclusion and the fostering of economic development. Support for humanitarian aid has been integrated into Belgium s aid policy for the first time. The three priority themes contained in the Law are: Human rights Sustainable and decent work Consolidation of society There are two crosscutting themes of gender and protection of the environment and in particular climate change. Support is reaffirmed for 18 partner countries, 5 regional organisations and 20 multilateral partner organisations. The Law respects the principles of efficient help and development: democratic ownership, in line with the partner countries policies, not binding aid. As a result of the global economic crisis Belgium s development budget has come under intense public pressure. The development cooperation budget was frozen in 2012 and 2013, as part of the efforts being made to limit public deficits. As a result this budget will be a maximum of million in 2013 and the 0.7% will not be reached in the coming years. The challenge for the Belgian Government and the success of the new Law on Development Cooperation will depend on how well it focuses on promoting consistency across all intervention areas of Belgian official cooperation (technical cooperation, humanitarian aid, aid to the private sector) as well as adopting a permanent mechanism to ensure PCD in Belgian policies. MECHANISMS FOR ACCOUNTABILITY In Ireland the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is accountable to the public and the taxpayer in its co-operation with external oversight bodies but also through its internal control systems. New accounting mechanisms at Irish Aid, proposed in the Development 7

8 Policy, focus on demonstrating effectiveness, value for money and greater transparency in how the organisation works and the results it has achieved. These mechanisms are fundamental in helping to maintain public support for Irelands International Development programme. One of the key concerns of Dóchas recommendations in its submission document was that the external scrutiny of Ireland s aid programme was insufficient. It called on the Irish Government to commit to the IATI (International Aid Transparency Initiative) to publish information about Irish Aid programmes according to a common standard. The response of the government in its Policy for International Development is commit to publishing all of its aid data under the internationally agreed format and standard by 2015 through the Open Government Partnership initiative and the IATI (although it is a signatory since 2011 to the IATI it has not yet adopted the Initiative s standards and format). Ireland s international commitments and obligations on accountability and aid transparency are comprehensively reflected in the new policy document and include the following mechanisms: Accountability for Whole-of-Government Approach, bi-annual report. Accountable through UN charter and International Human Rights framework OECD Peer Review Of Ireland s Development Programme Assessment of International aid quality commitments through OECD Evaluation Mutual accountability assessments at Key Partner Country Level In contrast, in the Dutch policy document International Development and Cooperation: A World to Gain, the Government clearly states that it has a responsibility to show the taxpayer what we do and what we achieve 5. In this respect it is similar to the Irish Governments commitment to openness, transparency and accountability to the public and the taxpayer. In order to make its initiatives more transparent the Netherlands has signed up to the IATI. This initiative makes data on Dutch development policy accessible to a wider public and enables it to share and re-use data with third parties, for example through the website. Using the format of the IATI, the Dutch Government will publish data from its implementing organisations, data at country and activity level and data on ODA flows that are not the responsibility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, developmentrelated expenditure classified as Other Official Flows, and private contributions in the form of investments, grants and loans. In Belgium the revision of the 1999 Law on International Development provides a mechanism for improved quality assurance in Belgium s Aid Programme. Currently a Special Evaluator has been operating independently to scrutinise the evaluation systems currently being used by the Belgian Cooperation. Belgium s newly repealed Development Law will formally integrate the position into the Department of Development Cooperation within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The main aim of the Special Evaluator position will be to harmonise both the external and internal evaluation systems and greater emphasis will be put on the alignment of these systems with Belgium s partner countries. It is hoped that the improved quality analysis and results obtained by the Special Evaluator s office will provide 5 A World to Gain: A New Agenda for Aid, Trade and Development; Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, April Pg 25. 8

9 lessons learnt and recommendations for improvement to Belgium s Aid Programme and the overall Federal System of Development and Cooperation. Provision is made for reporting to parliament on an annual basis on the progress being made on initiatives for Policy Coherence for Development but there is no clear directive on how to report to parliament. It is noteworthy that although all three policies commit the respective governments to making their activities more accountable and transparent through the auspices of the IATI, the Netherlands policy International Development and Cooperation: A World to Gain does not directly outline the internal or external accountability mechanisms that will be used to scrutinise and evaluate the quality and effectiveness of its aid programme to the same extent that Irelands Policy for International Development does. Like Ireland and the Netherlands, Belgium is also a signatory of the IATI but overall the new Law on International Development is quite weak in terms of referring to improved accountability mechanisms and transparency. Dóchas recommendations to the White Paper on accountability and transparency are to be commended for ensuring that the Irish Government committed itself to being scrutinised and examined in terms of the results it achieves and to how it spends taxpayers money. In the United Kingdom the Department for International Development has recently implemented a traceability measure with NGOs that it finances that requires them to track every part of the monetary chain online through an IATI web based development tracker right down to the final expenditure enabling full traceability on the ground by the British taxpayer. Observers see this as a welcome initiative which is going to change the question around accountability and transparency in the future. 6 DEGREE TO WHICH CORE ELEMENTS OF DOCHAS SUBMISSION TO WHITE PAPER IS REFLECTED IN POLICIES Rights based approaches to development A rights-based approach to development as endorsed by the Dóchas submission to the White Paper review focuses on the well being of society as a whole, on the basis of the active and meaningful participation of its citizens and the obligation of the State to respect, protect and uphold people s fundamental human rights. The new Irish Aid policy clearly sets out the human rights principles of non-discrimination, equality, empowerment, participation, transparency and accountability as being at the core of its development efforts particularly in the areas of promoting decent work, gender equality, child rights and disability. The role of civil society In its submission document Dóchas proposed that the Irish Government should continue to partner and empower civil society organisations and particularly women s organisations as a matter of standard practice in the preparation, design, delivery and monitoring of policies and programmes. 6 Interview with Owen Barder, Centre for Global Development, June

10 The Irish Aid response was an explicit acknowledgement that a strong civil society movement is at the centre of accountability and development and that in many countries civil society organisations have come under pressure in recent years. While there is a firm commitment to protect and promote the ability of civil society organisations to operate particularly as human rights defenders, there is no direct reference to support women s organisations. There is however a strong commitment to gender equality across a number of priority areas including human rights, global hunger, essential services and climate change. Policy coherence Although the principle of policy coherence for development was set out in the 2006 White Paper, the Dóchas submission to the White Paper review pointed out that there were few mechanisms for ensuring a Whole-of-Government approach to policies affecting development including input to multi-lateral institutions and to EU policy-making. Dóchas proposed that a bi-annual report be established in line with EC reporting to set measurable targets and indicators, and identify explicit strategies to address areas of incoherence across Government policies. The Governments response in the 2013 Policy for International Development commits to strengthen the oversight role of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Development which will be tasked with producing a biennial report on Ireland s progress on policy coherence for development which will be submitted to the Government and Oireachtas. Greater coherence of EU policies will be promoted through reporting on annually in the EU Report on Policy Coherence for Development. At the multilateral level the Government will continue to work with the Multilateral Organisation Performance Assessment Network to carry out joint assessments of the effectiveness of multilateral partners. Public engagement, development education and volunteering At a time of great economic difficulty for many people in Ireland, Dóchas sees the need to maintain continued public support for effective development as one of the greatest challenges facing Ireland s development programme. It goes on to express the importance that Irish Aid should place in encouraging the Irish public to assume greater responsibilities and foster a deeper engagement with issues and mechanisms that create, sustain or deepen poverty and equality. In the Policy for International Development Irish Aid recognises the importance of the role that development education has to play in deepening people s understanding and awareness of development as well as encouraging them towards taking action as part of their responsibilities as global citizens. To this end the organisation has committed itself to undertaking a more strategic approach to development education with support more closely targeted at a number of areas including teacher education at primary and post primary level, the improvement and broader dissemination of appropriate teaching resources, and more focused work with the community and youth sector. Disability, Gender, Food Security and HIV & AIDS 10

11 In its submission document Dóchas was clear in its support for the Irish Governments effort to integrate Gender Equality into policy discussions and that it should make gender equality considerations key to its development programming. It called for the White Paper review to continue the focus on gender equality and a gender policy covering all areas of international policy. Likewise regarding disability, Dóchas recommended that the White Paper should commit the Government to a twin-track approach of mainstreaming disability issues along the lines of the current approach to gender by ensuring that there would be specific programmes and funding lines to address the issues of people with disabilities and the mechanisms for ensuring that a disability perspective is integrated into the planning, delivery, monitoring and evaluation of all programmes and policies. In terms of HIV& AIDS, Dóchas called on the Government to commit Ireland to achieving the UNAIDS vision of zero discrimination, zero new HIV infections and zero AIDS-related deaths by developing and implementing a HIV strategy as well as fulfilling funding commitments to the Global Fund. Food security and nutrition was also part of Dóchas s submission and it stressed the importance of fighting hunger in the country strategic plans for key partner countries. Gender Ireland s Policy for International Development clearly sets out priority areas for action with regard to essential services. The strategy recognises gender as an essential component across a number of priority areas including global hunger, fragile states, climate change and human rights. The promotion of gender equality will be prioritised through continued support of initiatives such as the Irish Consortium on Gender Based Violence and Ireland s National Women s strategy Food Security Hunger has been a major agenda item for Ireland s Presidency of the EU in 2013 and The Policy for International Development reiterates Ireland s commitment to the global fight against hunger and under nutrition by prioritising food security initiatives through the European Union and the United Nations as well as maintaining Ireland s target of investing 20% of the Irish Aid budget on hunger in the coming years. Disability In line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Irish Aid will ensure that people with disabilities will be able to access services in order to achieve their full potential. HIV&AIDS The new Policy for International Development reaffirms the level of investment globally, regionally and at country level to combat the pandemic of HIV&AIDS and in particular through addressing inequality and gender based violence issues, future priorities will place more attention on effective prevention. Role of the Private Sector Synergies between companies and development organisations, state and NGOs, should be encouraged where a clear social return is identified. With this in mind Dóchas proposed that 11

12 Ireland s review of its Policy on International Development should set out a comprehensive approach to encouraging the contribution of business to development through partnership, support and regulation to ensure outcomes that are sustainable, equitable and positive for people living in extreme poverty. In line with the Dóchas proposal, the new Government Policy for International Development commits to exploring synergies between its aid programme and sectors where Irish companies have particular expertise or comparative advantage. It will also strive to identify areas where cooperation between Irish Aid and Irish industry can achieve benefits for Ireland s development partners. As part of this commitment Irish Aid will ensure that any engagement by Irish companies in economic development is in line with Ireland s commitment to human rights and will be guided by the UN policy framework for better managing business and human rights challenges. SUMMARY OF NGO SECTOR ANALYSIS OF AND RESPONSE TO NEW POLICIES NETHERLANDS: Partos the Dutch Non Governmental Organisation umbrella organisation was involved in the informal process of drawing up the new International Development and Cooperation: A World to Gain but it was not directly consulted in terms of making a formal submission. Members of Partos have been critical of the current Dutch Government stance on development both in the pre and post phases of the new policy. The Dutch parliament is currently debating the new policy and this will continue for a number of weeks. At this point it is hard to tell if fundamental changes to the policy proposals will be adopted by the parliament. Partos is broadly in favour of the aims outlined in the policy and commends the goal of eradicating extreme poverty in the world within one generation as well as fostering sustainable and inclusive growth. Partos view is that the safeguards to economic growth are well enshrined in the new policy but that it is not clear on focal points such as gender, food security and water. Support for private sector development has increased and the organisation agrees that the Netherlands Governments shift from focusing on social to economic priorities had been outlined as a future development. Despite this shift in focus the budget cuts of up to one billion euro still came as a shock to the NGO sector in The Netherlands. It is quite critical of the proposed cuts of 52% (63% when compared to 2010) for civil society and for example the cuts in good governance initiatives which will bring the Netherlands spending on ODA spending below 0.7% of GNI for the first time since BELGIUM: The Belgian NGO network is and it was actively involved in the process of drawing up the new development policy. However interestingly it has not officially commented or reacted to the final policy document in the media or through public forums. Informally feels that the new Belgian Law on International Development recognised the role of civil society organisations as independent development actors. It is the viewpoint of that Belgian NGOs were in favour of the new policy launched in March. The key principles addressed in the Belgian policy are (a) inequality in development, (b) sustainable 12

13 human development; (c) rights based approach and (d) Policy Coherence for Development (PCD). The reaction of was positive although it felt that the PCD principle was not concrete enough but was a first step for Belgium in terms of adopting an all-government commitment to development. The policy emphasises the role that economic growth and investment should play in development programmes and the link with local entrepreneurship in partner countries. The addition of inclusive economic growth in the Law came about as a result of a compromise between the different parties in Belgium s coalition government which led to policymakers examining the question of the redistribution of wealth created by economic growth. During the consultative process the first draft of the new International Development law did not specifically focus on economic development however again as a result of a political compromise the Socialist led cabinet had to include this in the final draft which was passed into law. Additionally in relation to gender, despite lobbying groups in Belgium being strong and gender equality being included as a cross-cutting theme in the new development law, felt that little the Law could have included more pro gender initiatives. Financial cuts of over half a billion euro have been made to the Belgian development budget for 2012 and 2013 and with this in mind feels that although the Belgian Government has made some recent positive policy declarations this is not being reflected in the field. The network believes that there is a clear gap between the theory and practice. Commenting on the mechanisms for accountability and transparency, it goes on to point out that in its annual reports to parliament the Belgian Development Cooperation tends to write good news stories but does not contribute to the debate on the effectiveness of the aid programme. It is the hope of that the new Law on International Development would stimulate more in-depth debate in parliament regarding aid and development cooperation. Concluding Remarks 1. The new Dutch policy has been criticised for being very much focused on national self interests and on promoting Dutch economic interests abroad through its aid and trade relations. This is in contrast with both the Irish and Belgian policies which have commitments to a rights based approach with Belgium focusing on sustainable and decent work for poor people and Ireland focusing on reduced hunger and stronger resilience as a main goal. 2. All three policies list sustainable development and inclusive economic growth as priority goals for their new policies. 3. Gender and gender equality is a cross cutting theme for all of the three countries. 4. Neither the Belgian nor the Dutch policies have any direct reference to volunteering or development education which is in contrast to Ireland s policy. Engagement with the public is also more strongly emphasised in Ireland s aid policy with clear steps on 13

14 fostering a sense of responsibility with the Irish public. In contrast the Dutch government cut back on its investment in global citizenship despite broad political and public support for addressing global poverty and inequality. Belgium s Law on Development states that it will make the Belgian public aware of the problems and issues facing International Cooperation but the Law is not specific on how it will go about achieving this. 5. Policy Coherence for Development is addressed in all three policies with Ireland adopting an, as yet to be clarified, whole-of-government approach and committing itself to greater accountability and transparency through the EU Report on PCD. The Netherlands commitment to PCD is strongly aligned to its aid and trade relationships and interests. Belgium has focused on establishing a permanent mechanism, including through an office of Special Evaluator, to ensure that PCD is part of its overall government policies. 6. All of the policies indicate that engagement with the private sector will be in the context of commitment to sustainable development and inclusive growth. The need to support local entrepreneurs is prioritised by all three policies with both Ireland and The Netherlands emphasising the engagement of their own companies and in particular the intention of The Netherlands to encourage promotion of Dutch companies with a perceived comparative advantage. 14