|
On the invitation of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, 13 ministers from 16 Arab countries met in Amman, Jordan on 26 September 2004 to endorse the Good Governance for Development (GfD) in Arab Countries Initiative. During this first Ministerial Meeting, attended by OECD Deputy Secretary-General Richard Hecklinger, MENA countries expressed their commitment to actively engage in a process of regional policy dialogue as proposed by the Initiative and especially the OECD, and agreed to meet again for an official Launching Conference in February 2005.
In his opening address, the Prime Minister of Jordan set out the rationale for governance reform as a crucial contribution to economic growth. Administrative, financial and judicial reforms, which would need to take into account the specific institutional and cultural identity of the countries of the region, would provide the basis for a viable path to modernization and human development.
OECD representatives described the diversity of OECD countries as a valuable element for a successful co-operation, driving the reform agenda in key policy areas. Conveying the OECD countries’ awareness of the commitment of Arab countries to promote better governance and economic development in the region, they emphasized the value of the Initiative’s regional ownership approach, involving countries willing to engage in reform.
The Jordanian Minister of Justice described the Initiative as a regionally owned effort to promote reform and presented its design and implementation mechanism. He welcomed the support of the OECD and UNDP and stressed the Initiative’s important contribution to implementing the recommendations of the Arab League’s May 2004 Tunis Summit. He also mentioned the significant role of civil society organizations and the media in the Initiative.
The participating MENA countries unanimously approved the underlying objectives and working methods of the proposed Initiative, and the following states offered to host and co-chair meetings of the six Working Groups, to be set up as the Initiative’s main implementation tool:
• Civil Service & Integrity (Morocco)
• E-government & Administrative Simplification (Dubai)
• Governance of Public Finance (Egypt)
• Public Services Delivery, PPP & Regulatory Reform (Tunisia)
• Role of the Judiciary & Enforcement (Jordan)
• Civil Society & Media (Lebanon)
The MENA countries expressed strong interest in having OECD countries co-chair these Working Groups and were looking forward to the contributions of OECD experts in elaborating national action plans.
Following the proposal of the Lebanese Minister for Administrative Reform it was agreed to create national committees in each of the MENA countries, composed of representatives of Ministers of Finance, Ministers for Public Administration and Reform and Ministers of Justice, in order to ensure a whole-of-government approach towards the co-ordination and implementation of the Initiative.
Discussions also raised the possibility of identifying pilot projects. Supporting such pilot projects could demonstrate that successful reform is possible, and generate policy lessons on how to multiply such success stories in the MENA region. It was thus agreed to follow an open concept that would allow bringing in further partners, such as international organizations, the private sector and civil society as well as bilateral and multilateral assistance agencies.
Jordan then offered to host a Launching Conference in early 2005 to formally initiate the Good Governance for Development in Arab Countries Initiative and offered to assume the role of the secretariat for its preparation, and was charged with following up on developing the Initiative's activities in close cooperation with both OECD and UNDP.
Agenda
List of Participants
|
