19 January 2003: The Third Big Table meeting of African Finance Ministers and their OECD counterparts took place from 18-19 January at the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

This year’s discussion focused on economic and development issues arising from the Fourth World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference in Doha, the International Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey, and the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, all held in 2002.

Participants also monitored the performance of Africa and its partners towards meeting shared goals in the context of mutual accountability. Key results of the meeting included a commitment to improve the effectiveness of aid and build stronger capacity in Africa to help reduce poverty. World Bank Vice President for Africa, Callisto Madavo, who also chaired the meeting, said that the meeting marked a transformation from a donor’s club to a genuine partnership with Africa. “We are committed to aligning donor programmes behind national strategies, and reducing the burden on African partners by simplifying donor procedures.” More information is available at the UNECA website at http://www.uneca.org/thebigtable/.