SPEEECH DELIVERED BY H. E. JOHN AGYEKUM KUFUOR, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF GHANA, AT THE THIRD HIGH LEVEL FORUM ON AID EFFECTIVENESS, ACCRA, THURSDAY, 4TH SEPTEMBER, 2008
My Colleague and Friend, President Ellen Johnson - Sirleaf of Liberia;
Mrs. Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland,
Mr. Robert Zoellick, President the World Bank,
Mr. Angel Gurria, Secretary - General of the GECD, Honorable Ministers,
Heads of Multilateral Development Banks, Regional Banks, and UN agencies; Distinguished Delegates:

Ghana is indeed very proud to host this Ministerial segment of the Third High Level Forum on Development and Aid Effectiveness which is taking place under the auspices of the GECD and the World Bank. I am particularly happy to acknowledge Her Excellency Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who is here not only as President of the Republic of Liberia, but also as a development specialist with very rich experience in the field of Aid and Development.

It is indeed a great honour to have in our midst Mrs. Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and recipient of Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award, for her work in promoting Human Rights.

The real promoters of this Forum are the World Bank and the OECD. We are therefore pleased that the Bank's President Mr. Robert Zoellick and Mr. Angel Gurria, OECD Secretary-General are both here to participate in the discussion.

Last but not least, I welcome Messrs Donald Kaberuka, President of ADB and Kemal Dervis, Administrator of UNDP.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is, indeed, an assembly of VVIPs so at this point, kindly permit me to express my heartfelt thanks to a1\ of you, for coming to Ghana to contribute to this Forum and, hopefully through it, the betterment of the developing world.

Your participation strongly reaffirms the commitments you made at previous meetings on Aid Effectiveness first in Rome in 2003 and then in Paris in 2005. The Accra Forum is truly a sequel to those Conferences.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have been informed of the intense process of stocktaking that has preceded this Meeting. Country level assessments on progress in Aid Effectiveness were carried out in over 50 countries. A contact group of developing countries contributed substantially to the consultations, while some civil society - organizations conducted useful evaluations. The efforts to work together also demanded that some concessions were made on important issues in order to move forward. Thus, this Forum kicks off with the awareness of the achievements and the shortfalls of the process so far.

Ladies and Gentlemen, emboldened by the strong resolve to deepen co¬operation among you ,and your willingness to compromise in order to achieve further progress, I urge that this Forum should end with some bold and ambitious resolutions, to minimize existing impediments to Aid Effectiveness in recipient countries, to make way for sustained growth and development. Indeed, the government and people of Ghana expect the Accra Conference to be very successful with many positive outcomes.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the driving force of shared humanity behind these conferences shows that the concept of development partnership has attained a critical acceptance as a major vehicle to enhance Aid Effectiveness further in recipient countries.

Such countries should be empowered to play proactive roles in the rapidly emerging global village of interdependence. This forum is therefore to work to remove the systemic indignities of permanent Aid through social and economic empowerment of the recipient countries.

Already, the global aid architecture is changing and transforming relations between developed and developing nations. 80th sides are encouraging recipient nations to take ownership of focused country development plans, aid policies and strategies, and other frameworks to ensure that Aid supports their development priorities. These trends are increasingly evident from the experiences of nations like Tanzania and Cambodia which show clearly that gains in Aid Effectiveness and in development outcomes are closely linked with sustained consultations on country programmes between donors and recipients. Of course competent leadership and stable and accountable political and economic governance systems are crucial for the success of the process.

In these countries, the role of aid in national development as well as mechanisms for accountability are dearly defined, while relationship with development partners are closely monitored within a government-led mutual accountability framework.

Ladies and Gentlemen, lam happy to say that Ghana is yet another example where development assistance has been used to stabilize the national economy to move from a status of poverty onto a trajectory of sustained long term growth.

Ghana is closer than most developing countries to reaching the Millennium Development Goals. Already, the minimum daily wage has gone past the target of US$1. Free and Compulsory Universal Basic Education is on course. In addition to health care through a National Health Insurance Scheme, pregnant women enjoy free child-delivery, thus ensuring maternal health care. The creation of a Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, and the signing of a host of UN protocols in their favour are indications of government's commitment to ensuring that their concerns are mainstreamed ,into policies for national development.

The development partners are aware of this trend and they should feel proud that their support has been productive in enabling Ghana to graduate from an ODA status to IDA status according to the World Bank's ranking system.

Today, Ghana is able to issue bonds on the international capital market. In time, the aim is to totally wean the nation out of a perennial and structural dependence on Aid.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the good news is that even in fragile states with strong and committed leadership, there are examples of remarkable progress on Aid Effectiveness and development. We learn, for example , that Liberia, a country that has just emerged from the throes of war and destruction , which is showing strong and committed leadership, has completed the first phase of her Poverty Reduction Strategy in one year, and is about to start the second phase . Such demonstration of committed leadership which is carrying along the citizenry deserves unalIoyed and urgent support from the development partners.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the message from these success stories is that Aid should be used chiefly to assist with capacity building in recipient countries, both in terms of Human Resource Development and infrastructure laying to improve productivity. The self-confidence and "can-do" spirit that are unleashed from such developments are what Aid Effectiveness must be about.

Ladies and Gentlemen, many recipient nations have established various frameworks for financial monitoring and accountability and procurement. process. Our partners should demonstrate commitment on their part by matching such efforts with increased support and goodwill. Such support should manifest in the timeous release of resources for critical programmes in the shared country plans. For delays in implementation of programmes that society has bought into frustrate expectations and tend to cause political disenchantment and render governments, especially a democratically elected leadership, vulnerable.

Harmonization of development assistance in alignment with approved country development programmes is one way of improving releases from donors. In Ghana, multi-donor budgetary support funds form an Integral part of expected receipts in the forma1 Budget Statement Issued by the Minister of Finance to parliament yearly.

Indeed, in the face of multiple donors, harmonization of assistance reduces the strain and sometimes costly burden of dealing with them individually by a recipient country. Of course, harmonization of Aid should not be tracked from whatever bi-lateral support a donor nation may agree with a recipient because of their special relations.

Ladies and Gentlemen, considering that Aid should be to develop capacity participants should explore further the trend of support for, and strengthening of the Private Sector in the recipient nations. The mantra is that the sector 1s 'the engine of growth'. So it must be helped and freed to become! It should be the destination of foreign direct investment and also the source of entrepreneurship to venture into the international market as the economy gains strength.

ladies and Gentlemen, permit me to emphasize once again that in the long run, Aid is to help recipient nations build capacity not only to, overcome poverty, but also, to develop economic muscle to become worthy investment partners internationally. That should be the underpinning spirit of this Forum.

Distinguished guests, in dosing, let me congratulate the organizers of this forum, the OECD and the World Bank, on a job well done. With their Ghanaian counterparts, they have dedicated months to hard work and meticulous advance preparations. We thank them sincerely for this.

Let me also recognize and thank members of the Partner Country Contact Group, 8 small group of representatives from 15 countries from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and the Middle East, for their invaluable contributions to the draft Accra Agenda for Action.

I requested Dr. K. Y. Amoako, a Ghanaian former Executive Secretary of the ECA, to lead this group to bring a stronger and more coherent developing country input into the consultative progess and to the negotiations leading up to the Accra Agenda for Action.

I am happy to acknowledge the diligence brought to bear on the assignment. The group has built a critical mass of experience for the developing countries. I congratulate all its members.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this forum is the latest in the succession of international gatherings on key global issues that Ghana has been privileged to host over the last 15 months. I hope that this forum moves straight into action, as in the words of the Accra Agenda for Action, "we have an opportunity today to reach for a future based on a shared commitment to overcome poverty, a future where no countries will depend on Aid." I urge you sincerely to seize this opportunity.

I wish you success in your deliberation for the day.

Thank you and may God bless us all.