Microfinance Practice: RE: [MFP] Four recommendations for learning from clients

'Too many cooks in the kitchen,' warns MDG co-architect

By Richard Jones on 26 April 2013
Devex.com
https://www.devex.com/en/news/too-many-cooks-in-the-kitchen-warns-mdg-co/80799?mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRonuq7Id%2B%2FhmjTEU5z16ewsX6azgIkz2EFye%2BLIHETpodcMSsBnPa%2BNFAAgAZVnyRQFHuWDeZg%3D

Extracts:

"The post-MDG framework runs the risk of underachieving because "there are too many cooks in the kitchen this time around," according to Jan Vandemoortele, one of the co-architects of the Millennium Development Goals.

While confident that the implementation of a framework "can and will be done," Vandemoortele told Devex that he feared it would look like a "badly decorated Christmas tree" that no one wants to get too close to.

With over 30 years of experience at various United Nations bodies and as director of the Poverty Group at the U.N. Development Program between 2001 and 2005, Vandemoortele cautioned that the "clock is ticking" to achieve the MDGs currently on the table.

Looking ahead, the advisor to the U.N. Secretary-General and the Dutch secretary for development cooperation stressed the need for the international community to "keep its promises" while "listening more" and avoiding a "donor-centric approach."

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A promise is a promise — we made that promise and we're not keeping it.

Whether we keep the promise or not, the mistake we make is that it has little or no relevance for achieving the MDGs. And that's a very donor-centric misunderstanding.

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Many of the southern partners are skeptical because they perceive that [we are] trying to defend the old narrative when we were rulers of the world. We have to accept — in all humility — that perhaps this time around, it's time to listen a bit more.

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DO YOU THINK THAT THE EU IS FIGHTING A LOSING BATTLE TO ENSURE THAT ITS MEMBER STATES STICK TO THEIR ODA COMMITMENTS IN TIMES OF FINANCIAL CRISIS AND AUSTERITY?

These are the moments in history where you need leadership that is way above average. The easy way out is to say "we can't do it, it's impossible," but that's when we need leaders who can say "we will put a man on the Moon by the end of the decade."

I don't see that leadership within the EU constellation and I'm afraid that man is not going to be on the Moon any time soon.

International Development CommitteeWritten evidence submitted by The Church of England and Public Affairs Council

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmintdev/657/657vw15.htm

Extracts:

"The post-MDG agenda should not be defined by a group of experts and technocrats working behind closed doors in a way that leaves unchallenged the donor centric model of development; "

"The new framework needs to challenge the existing donor centric model of development by recognising that ODA, while important, is not the only source of external finance and that external finance is not all there is to human development and well-being;"

Normand Arsenault

From: MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of NORMAND ARSENAULT
Sent: 12 avril 2013 05:46
To: MicrofinancePractice YahooGroups
Subject: RE: [MFP] Four recommendations for learning from clients

Going from donor-centricity to client-centricity would be a real revolution!
How can donors and NGOs put providers at the center of the operational model?
How can donors and NGOs have provider-centricity baked into their systems, operations, and human resources?

Normand Arsenault