The Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF) the zenith of two years of unprecedented global consultations on development cooperation, will take place 2-4 September 2008, in Accra. The forum brings together Presidents and Ministers from over 100 countries and heads of multilateral and bilateral development agencies, donors and global civil society organizations from more than 100 countries, the African Development Bank (AfDB) said in a statement on Wednesday. The statement said the consultations would take stock of progress made in implementing Paris Declaration (PD) commitments, identify bottlenecks and challenges, and determine actions donors and partner countries need to take to make aid more effective. The Accra event is a mid-term review of the progress made in finance institutions, developed and developing countries and development partners, committed to increasing efforts to harmonization and alignment of their policies and practices and to as well as managing aid resources to achieve maximum results. The statement said 12 indicators of aid effectiveness were developed as a way of tracking and monitoring progress against the broader set of partnership commitments. The event sessions will open with a discussion on the theme, “Setting the Context: Progress since Paris, and meeting aid and development effectiveness challenges beyond Accra”, which will build on the findings of the 2008 monitoring survey and the first phase of the evaluation report of the Paris Declaration implementation and other reviews. This will be followed by the launch of the “Marketplace of Ideas” which aims to at promoting innovative practices and lessons in aid effectiveness through information and knowledge-sharing, cross-fertilization of knowledge and approaches, and learning among the HLF participants. It would include showcasing good and innovative practices and lessons in aid effectiveness. Countries and organizations will display posters and written materials that highlight their experience with harmonization, alignment, and managing for results. The statement said there will also be nine “Roundtable Meetings” which will provide participants with an opportunity for in-depth discussions to facilitate and support work on aid effectiveness by building on the work of international working groups. It said the “Ministerial-Level Meeting” would conclude with high-level discussions and negotiation around key issues. This will culminate in the endorsement of a ministerial statement - the Accra Agenda for Action (AAA) - that aims at deepening implementation of the Paris Declaration. Preparations for Accra include four country-level consultation meetings held in 2007 in Mauritius, Ghana, Honduras, and the Philippines attended by neighbouring countries in the various regions. Similarly, several regional and sub-regional preparatory events were held to consolidate regional voices and perspectives that are critical to success in Accra. These include, Fiji for Pacific Island countries; Bangkok for Southeast Asia, South Asia and West and Central Asia; Kigali for Africa; Santa Marta, Colombia, for Latin American and Caribbean countries; and Jeddah for Middle East countries. “Accra is expected to generate a critical mass of data and home-gown deliverables to spur economic growth and reduce poverty reduction.” The Forum is also expected to have an impact on the 22-25 September 2008 UN Africa Summit and the MDG Summit in New York on development and poverty reduction as well as the “Financing for Development” follow-up meeting in Doha in December 2008 on the scaling up of development financing. The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, the World Bank, and the OECD among others, and partner countries have been key players in the two-year work streams of the world-wide preparations for the event which, development experts say, mark a milestone in the annals of Official Development Assistance (ODA). AfDB president Donald Kaberuka is expected to lead senior bank officers at the Ministerial-level and Roundtable meetings; host a dialogue with African Ministers on the food and oil price crises. Source: GNA