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- Arab Coordination Group gathers for 82nd meeting in Vienna
Arab Coordination Group gathers for 82nd meeting in Vienna
Vienna, Austria, September 17, 2018. OFID – the OPEC Fund for International Development – hosted the 82nd Meeting of the Heads of Operations of the Coordination Group of Arab and Regional Development Institutions, the Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB) and OFID at its Vienna headquarters on September 11-13, 2018.
Representatives from the Asian Development Bank, the Global Fund and the World Bank joined those from the ten members of the Coordination Group. During the three days, discussions focussed on topics ranging from improving development cooperation and effectiveness to liaising on upcoming developmental projects.
During his welcome speech, OFID Director-General Suleiman J Al-Herbish spoke of the Group’s important role in strengthening partnerships and enhancing visibility with the common goal of promoting sustainable development. “In my years as Director-General of this noble institution, I have viewed the Coordination Group as I view OFID, and expect of the Group what I expect of OFID: steadfast ambition and unparalleled dedication.” Al-Herbish highlighted OFID’s efforts in the alleviation of energy poverty, and its special efforts in Palestine, and urged the group to continue supporting these initiatives as it looks ahead.
High on the meeting’s agenda was the Arab Development Portal (ADP), a Coordination Group initiative developed in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to provide up-to-date development-related data and statistics concerning the Arab world. The ADP has become a regional hub for data collection and analysis and is growing ever more relevant. The ADP team updated the meeting about its role in ensuring high quality data and building capacity through workshops. In October, the ADP will host the second ‘hackathon’ involving youth from Arab countries in Beirut, Lebanon.
The importance of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC) was also discussed. The GPEDC enables the Coordination Group to cooperate effectively with other institutions outside the United Nations framework. Under the GPEDC, the Coordination Group has committed to the effective use of its resources and to principles of transparency. In order to measure aid effectiveness, the group agreed that performance indicators must be set and measured.
Other topics on the agenda included cooperation with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC); the Deep Dive dialogue with the World Bank Group; and technical meetings with the Asian Development Bank and the Global Fund. The OECD-DAC and Deep-Dive initiatives are both concrete examples of the Coordination Group of Arab and Regional Development Institutions’ efforts to combine resources and align institutional priorities to realize joint projects and actions.
The Coordination Group comprises: the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the Arab Gulf Programme for Development, the Arab Monetary Fund, the Islamic Development Bank, the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, OFID, the Qatar Development Fund and the Saudi Fund for Development.The group will meet next on January 14 2019 for the OECD-DAC meeting, hosted by the Arab Fund in Kuwait.