DAG's Letter To Meles Zenawi

Press Release
November 28, 2005

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As you will be aware, the Development Assistance Group took the unusual step of issuing a statement on the 11th of November. We did this because of the widespread concern expressed to us about the current situation and we wished to make it clear that we, as Ethiopia’s development partners, shared those concerns. We are now writing to you to explain in more detail the thinking behind that statement.

As development partners, we remain committed to a partnership based on mutual respect and trust in the interests of the people of Ethiopia and our own taxpayers and multilateral contributors. We are committed to the sustainable development of Ethiopia and the reduction of poverty. However, the way recent events have been managed has substantially complicated the environment in which we have to operate.

As you know, we have been very supportive of the Government’s attempts to stimulate development, reduce poverty and carry out its commitments under the Constitution. We have as a group been scaling up our assistance substantially to support your programmes and have been working to provide aid through increasingly harmonised and less burdensome instruments. The amount of aid provided through un-earmarked budget support has grown substantially over the past two years as donors recognise its value in reducing transaction costs and increasing aid effectiveness. Such support, however, implies a closer relationship between government and donor partners built on trust, mutual predictability and transparency. It extends also to a more complex accountability to tax payers in our own countries who are effectively buying-in to the public expenditure plans of the Government of Ethiopia.

Equally, however, such accountability implies a greater level of scrutiny of all government actions and is therefore more vulnerable to risk when domestic problems occur. A number of donors are already being required to defend the support which they provide through such un-earmarked instruments, hence the need – noted in our 11th November Statement – to review collectively the effects of recent events on our programmes. We will make any adjustments necessary for us both to maintain due accountability to our respective stakeholders and to ensure that our contributions reach the poor in a non-partisan manner. We would therefore welcome the opportunity to have structured dialogue with you on these issues, as we are cognisant of the potential implications for macroeconomic stability.

Successful development outcomes in Ethiopia also depend upon real and sustained progress on human rights in conformity with international conventions, the rule of law, and the quality of governance (also a key principle of the New Partnership for African Development – NEPAD). If these issues are not addressed appropriately and consistently, our assistance will have a reduced impact on the poor as well as prospects for Ethiopia’s progress on sustainable development overall.

In a democratising country, key actors including Parliament, the opposition, civil society and the poor themselves require free access to information and a commitment to allow them a major voice in the development process. Without this, their essential contributions are not heard, and the pro-poor outcomes we all look for are severely curtailed. We are concerned that recent events, including the apparent closing down of space for civil society and limiting access to the media, have considerably reduced the scope for such interaction and, as such, threatens the effectiveness of some of our development assistance.

To help minimise the adverse effects on development assistance and to enable us to continue to support government plans to scale up its programmes the DAG therefore urges Government to move rapidly on the agreement and implementation of key governance principles as set out in the DAG’s contribution to the SDPRP II policy matrix (currently with Government for consideration). These include:

Fair, efficient and accessible justice for all;
Enforcement of citizens’ rights as enshrined in the Constitution and Penal Code;
Ability of all citizens to participate in ongoing, pluralistic political processes in a fair and free environment;
Freedom of _expression and free access to information;
Enhanced civil society environment and participation in the development process at all levels.

These are critical issues for management of our contributions to government programmes and we would welcome an early meeting in order to agree the mechanism for such dialogue and how best they can be fully integrated as an important part of the new SDPRP. In the process of reviewing our programmes the DAG also recognises the need to deepen consultation and engagement on development programming and governance to a wider range of partners including civil society, the opposition, and the private sector.

We also recognise that current events increase the vulnerability of Ethiopia. We wish to understand the underlying issues causing fragility and hope to be able to reformulate our programmes to address them over the longer term.

In the interests of all engaged in Ethiopia’s sustainable development and poverty reduction efforts, we look forward to working with the Government urgently to address the issues raised above.

Yours sincerely,

The DAG