ECDPM Annual Report 2016

The European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) is an independent ‘think and do tank’ working on international cooperation and development policy in Europe and Africa.
Our staff members provide research and analysis, advice and practical support to policymakers and practitioners in Europe.

---

Africa and beyond – to make policies work for sustainable and inclusive global development. We bring people together and collaborate with a broad range of partners to address policy implementation challenges.

In the past five years we strategically focused our work through five interlinked programmes:

• Strengthening European External Action
• Conflict, Security and Resilience
• Economic Transformation and Trade
• Africa’s Change Dynamics
• Food Security

FROM OUR BOARD CHAIR

Twenty-sixteen was by all measures a momentous year that will go down in history as one of major political surprises. The events of the year are still being digested, and their true meaning for global politics and governance discussed. Nonetheless, they are expected to have far-reaching consequences for the international system.

Human tragedy, epitomised by the Syrian war and manifest in the thousands of refugees crossing the Mediterranean, has underscored the central importance of solid international cooperation and dialogue. At the same time, a new wave of populism is challenging the idea of globalisation and the workings of the multilateral system. This suggests that now, more than ever before, we need carefully structured dialogues to address issues of mutual interest and arrive at different and fair solutions.

That is exactly where ECDPM can play a part. As this report shows, the Centre this year engaged with a broad range of actors worldwide, seeking to better understand their perspectives and reconcile these with the viewpoints of others involved. Drawing on the Centre’s values and principles and benefi tting from the guidance of a dedicated Board, ECDPM managed to successfully give meaning to its role as an honest broker.

As ECDPM enters a new strategic planning cycle in 2017, amidst all the additional uncertainties that leaders around the world are grappling with, its brokerage role will be more crucial than ever.

FROM OUR DIRECTOR

As 2016 drew to a close we looked back on a turbulent year, for the world and its citizens and for ECDPM. One thing that stood out for me, however, was our organisation’s ability, notwithstanding widespread uncertainties, to accomplish most of the objectives set for it at the start of its 30th anniversary year.

At the top of our agenda was development of a new five-year strategic vision for 2017–2021. An independent external evaluation encouraged us to stretch our ambitions, in line with the Global Goals. We rose to this challenge. Our new strategy builds on ECDPM’s many past contributions to development processes within and outside the EU institutions, while setting out ways to meaningfully harness the confi dence entrusted in us by a broadening range of African institutions.

In the new strategy this is translated into a shift in focus towards Europe-Africa relations and the addition of North Africa to complete our African continent geographical remit. The strategy places renewed emphasis on domestic European players as well, and on the factors impacting the policy debates that ultimately shape EU external action. This means that outwardly our new strategy is oriented towards the African continent as a whole, while inwardly it demonstrates greater awareness of the changing political priorities of the various EU member states.

Our focus is just one of the features that makes us different from peer organisations. ECDPM publishes political and policy analyses and research papers, but it does not stop there. Our aim has always been and will remain to broker cooperation and partnerships to promote change.

Our new strategy develops, for each of our work streams, consistent pathways of change, to steer our programmatic work more effectively and maintain sufficient flexibility to adjust when needed. This will improve our accountability to our governance, funders and partners, to stakeholders and to the public at large.

In a year of unacceptable human suffering, when poverty and food scarcity remained stubbornly high, it was with growing concern that we witnessed official development assistance (ODA) levels decline.
Abandoning the norm of spending 0.7% of gross national income on development no longer seems to be a political taboo, even for longstanding advocates within the European Union. But, if we want to help those in need, maintain a healthy planet for future generations and safeguard security as well as a competitive economy at home, we simply cannot afford to cut our development budgets.

Political turbulence and declining ODA levels have obviously had an impact on ECDPM’s work. The Brexit vote has pushed us to develop a new relationship with our British partners, such as DFID, and funding from some of our institutional partners has come under increasing pressure. For that reason, I am particularly pleased that the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs has decided to continue its funding. This not only ensures the continuity of our work, but also provides us a solid foundation for reaching out to new partners and fulfilling our ultimate mission: making the Global Goals a reality for all.

Related link: ECDPM Annual Report 2016

Original source: ECDPM. 
Posted on 25 July 2017.