International Social Science Journal (Chinese Edition)

No.4, 2017

Accountability for development cooperation (Abstract)

José Antonio Ocampo and Natalie Gómez-Arteaga

This study is a contribution to the Development Cooperation Forum (DCF) dialogue on the objectives, principles and features of development cooperation. It analyzes how to enhance the accountability for development cooperation in the framework of a Global Partnership for Development, which is, in turn, an essential component of the post-2015 development agenda currently under discussion. The study is divided in five parts. The first presents some reflections on the scope of the Global Partnership for Development and development cooperation. The second looks at the concept of accountability in domestic governance and explores how it can be applied to international commitments in general and to development cooperation in particular. The third takes a closer look at several accountability experiences which can be considered more closely relevant to development cooperation. The fourth part takes a closer look at the three elements of what we will call the “triangular architecture” of development cooperation: (i) “mutual accountability” in the context of North-South cooperation, (ii) South-South cooperation, and (iii)cooperation by non-governmental actors. The last section discusses on how to design a better system of accountability. In addition, several proposals on specific issues are presented throughout the paper.