As part of the Debt Management Capacity Building Program managed by CEMLA and financed by CIDA, CEMLA/DRI visited Port-au-Prince for 2 joint capacity building missions. The first aimed at enhancing capacity in debt sustainability and debt strategy and to update the public debt database in order to prepare the various debt data projections and macroeconomic projections required for the debt sustainability analysis and Medium Term Debt Strategy (MTDS). The second mission was to familiarise staff of the various institutions with the methodology on new financing elaborated by DRI. The training welcomed nineteen participants from the Ministry of Economics and Finance, the Ministry of Planning and External Cooperation, and the Bank of the Republic of Haiti.

Francophone LIC Finance Ministers met in Washington DC under the co-presidency of Cambodia and Cameroon. At a press conference, they demanded fair representation in the G-20 and the Financial Stability Board, further progress on innovative financing, debt relief, and aid quantity and quality. Combined with a substantial lobbying process by the Global Campaign Against Poverty, these discussions resulted in a rapid reconfirmation of Africa’s seats at the G-20 table. For a copy of the communiqué, click here.

DFI has contributed to a joint Commonwealth Secretariat – Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie paper on food security, which presents the perspectives of their smallest, poorest and most vulnerable member countries. The paper was presented at an outreach meeting with Mexico, which encouraged a continued focus on food security during Mexico’s G20 Presidency. Drawing on their own experiences, developing country participants ranked food insecurity among the most urgent priorities to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable growth. They called for a cohesive set of measures to increase food production and access, including securing longer-term commitments for investment, financial and technical assistance; adapting new research; and developing tools to help increase productivity for smallholders and promoting long-term sustainable use of natural resources.

DFI was commissioned by Save the Children Norway, Norwegian Church Aid and the Norwegian Forum for Environment and Development to study whether the IMF Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust is delivering poverty reduction and growth to low-income countries. The study finds that it could do a great deal more, and makes strong recommendations for the IMF and its funders. It was presented at a seminar in the IMF Spring Meetings and is forming the basis for extensive CSO inputs into the IMF review of LIC instruments.

A joint mission of the World Bank and DRI visited Niamey to evaluate the country's debt management, based on the DeMPA methodology elaborated by the BWIs. As part of the review, the mission held meetings with all the institutions involved in debt management. A draft report has been prepared which has been sent for peer review before being submitted to the country's authorities within the forthcoming weeks.

DFI took part in a World Bank DeMPA mission in Bujumbura, Burundi on 9-17 April. The mission assessed the country's debt management and held meetings with various key institutions involved in the borrowing cycle. The team also provided training on operational risks, the calculation of the grant element and the interpretation of results of a DSA implemented in Burundi. Preliminary conclusions were shared with targets institutions as well as with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.

DFI was commissioned by a consortium of major NGOs (Actionaid, Concord, Oxfam, Save the Children and the UK Aid Network) to analyse whether a strong global monitoring framework is essential to make progress on increasing the results of aid. The study has been presented at meetings in Addis Ababa, Paris and Washington. Thanks to major lobbying and negotiation by developing countries and NGOs, it looks as though the post-Busan negotiations will produce a reasonably strong global framework to monitor progress on increasing aid results.

Matthew Martin participated in a retreat of the New Rules board to draft a strategic plan for the next 4 years as New Rules fights to change the way global finance is governed and increase its contribution to just, inclusive and economically sustainable development. The plan will be finalised by June and used as the basis for fundraising for key analytical, advocacy and networking activities during 2012-15.

In keeping with the national capacity building programme in aid management, and audit and control started in 2010, the national manual of procedures for the management and control of public investment projects is now being finalised and will be released for official use shortly.

Following the DeMPA mission in 2009, the World Bank and DRI jointly conducted a debt management reform plan mission in DRC. After identifying needs, a series working sessions and bilateral meetings led to the formulation of a reform plan hinging on three main areas: governance, organisational structure, and operational risks.