16 April 2014: Delegates to the first High-Level Meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation adopted a communiqué, titled ‘Building Towards An Inclusive Post-2015 Development Agenda,’ agreeing to advance cooperation on various concrete commitments, including aid to strengthen countries’ own tax systems.

The Global Partnership was launched in Busan, Republic of Korea, in December 2011, and is co-chaired by ministers from Indonesia, Nigeria and the UK.

More than 1,500 participants from governments, business and civil society in over 130 countries attended the first High-Level Meeting, held in Mexico City, Mexico, on 15-16 April 2014. President of Mexico Peña Nieto addressed the meeting, highlighting its significance in building ‘the new architecture of international aid’ that is needed to realize the post-2015 development agenda. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that the development financing framework beyond 2015 must be broad, encompassing aid, trade, debt sustainability and macro-economic stability, and must include resources from national, international, private and public sources.

The meeting launched 38 initiatives by governments, business, private foundations and civil society, described in an annex to the communiqué. They include an initiative to strengthen tax administrations in developing countries, led by the UK, Germany, the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Global Partnership Co-Chair and Finance Minster of Nigeria Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala noted that African countries lose around US$50 billion annually through tax evasion, undeclared business and corruption.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría announced that official development assistance (ODA) reached an all-time high of US$135 billion in 2013. He called for ‘a new multilateralism in development,’ welcoming the initiative taken by private foundations at the conference to develop the Guidelines for Effective Philanthropic Engagement. UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark said the quantity and quality of ODA will be critical for implementation of the post-2015 development agenda. She welcomed the recent rise in ODA, but expressed concern that the proportion dedicated to African countries has declined.

Delegates at the two-day meeting discussed: progress in development cooperation since Busan; partnering for effective taxation and domestic resource mobilization for development; South-South, triangular cooperation and knowledge sharing; development cooperation with middle-income countries; and business as a partner in development.

In the seven-page ‘Mexico High Level Meeting Communiqué,’ delegates request that the Global Partnership’s Steering Committee submit the outcomes of the High-Level Meeting to other intergovernmental and multi-stakeholder processes, including the UN Development Cooperation Forum (DCF), the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS), the International Conference on Financing for Development, and UN deliberations shaping the post-2015 development agenda. [Meeting Webpage] [Closing Press Release] [Mexico High Level Meeting Communiqué] [Remarks of UN Secretary-General] [Remarks of UNDP Administrator] [Remarks of OECD Secretary-General]