The Future of Development Cooperation Coalition Newsletter #6

Here at the Coalition, we recently finished our sixth and final regional consultation, having held discussions on the future of development cooperation in Mexico City, Rabat, Kigali, New Delhi, Beijing and Brussels. (And don’t worry—you can still share your thoughts directly via the website).

Not long after the Brussels session I was asked a great question, and one that had been on all of our minds as we moved through this process: What have been the common themes across regions and, equally important, what have been the differences?

The commonalities have been both striking and somewhat surprising. First and foremost, there was a huge emphasis on knowledge and learning across all of our consultations. More than finance, more than aid, more than economic policy, people see development as requiring the sharing of knowledge in a way that can be translated into effective practice. Among the people we met, there was a distinct thirst for finding ways to come together as part of a collaborative, rules-based order. While most all people strongly believe that many of the systems established after the Second World War have shown their age, very few think nations and people—wherever they fall on the development spectrum—will be well-served by a free-for-all. We also heard a mix of apprehension and excitement around the potential of AI and its impact on low- and middle-income countries, along with a recognition that strong institutions, good policies, and genuine partnership between the public and private sectors are essential ingredients for development cooperation.

Beyond those commonalities, the mood across different regions feels very different. In Asia, we encountered a good deal of optimism about partnerships between low- and middle-income countries and the potential of green industrialization. In Africa, there was a real sense of determination for countries to guide their own future, even through turbulent waters, and a staunch interest in structural transformation. In Europe, we heard serious reflections about how the region can navigate a landscape that is evolving rapidly, both with respect to domestic realities and international cooperation. And in Latin America, unsurprisingly, questions of intra-regional relations loomed large.

The sentiments from these consultations deeply shaped the second meeting of the Coalition’s Co-Chairs and Commissioners held in a very warm London in late June. And those very productive discussions, guided by our fantastic Co-Chairs and coupled with what we have learned during the consultations, continue to demonstrate that there is a great deal more that binds us than separates us.

Warm regards,

Alexia

On 25-26 June, the Coalition held its second in-person meeting of Co-Chairs and Commissioners in London, graciously hosted by the Center for Global Development Europe. The Coalition’s Co-Chairs, Arancha González Laya and Yemi Osinbajo, alongside Commissioners from government, business, finance, philanthropy, civil society, and academia dedicated much of the discussion to shaping what will be the Coalition’s second report, which explores the principles that should guide development cooperation. We are deeply grateful to external experts and friends who joined us, including Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Director General of the World Trade Organization), Sebastian Mallaby (Paul A. Volcker Senior Fellow for International Economics at Council on Foreign Relations), Martin Hearson (Research Director for the International Centre for Tax and Development, and Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies), and Rania Al-Mashat (Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia).

“Over the past six months, we have heard from hundreds of people across every region and from an extraordinary diversity of perspectives. Those conversations have challenged many assumptions, sharpened our thinking, and reinforced that development cooperation must be reimagined in a more interconnected, contested, and changing world,” said Co-Chair Arancha González Laya, “As we continue listening and testing our ideas, the Coalition is now beginning to translate those insights into principles and later recommendations that are ambitious, practical, and grounded in dialogue,”

The discussion touched on key questions, including: how to make development cooperation most effective in fragile and conflict-affected states; the importance of enabling ecosystems for innovation; paths to strengthen resilience to economic, climate, and other shocks; the best steps to level the international playing field on issues such as taxation, trade, debt, and the cost of capital, and what new approaches to international governance might look like in an increasingly fragmented and multipolar world.

“The question is no longer whether development cooperation should change, but how,” noted Co-Chair Yemi Osinbajo, “Our discussions focused on the practical choices needed to build stronger country capabilities, mobilize all forms of capital, harness innovation, and create partnerships while reinvigorating the drivers of cooperation. These are the building blocks of a more effective approach to development cooperation.” You can read more here.

Several members of the Coalition were on hand for the Hamburg Sustainability Conference. Yemi Osinbajo joined former German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and former Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla Miranda (Co-Chairs of the South-North Commission), together with Minister Maropene Ramokgopa of South Africa, representing the Ubuntu Commission, to explore how international cooperation must evolve to meet today’s realities. As this write-up makes clear, there was remarkable convergence around the need for a more inclusive, more responsive, and more effective approach to international cooperation that both reflects shifting global dynamics and remains focused on delivering real results for people.

Osinbajo and Head of Secretariat Alexia Latortue also convened a high-level, closed-door discussion in Hamburg to test the Coalition’s emerging Principles with senior leaders from government, international organizations, philanthropy, finance, business, and civil society. The Coalition remains eager to continually pressure-test its emerging ideas and proposals, recognizing that no one has all the answers and that almost every idea is made better through such an iterative process.

In our sixth and final regional consultation, participants from European institutions, governments, international organizations, business, philanthropy, civil society and think tanks wrestled with a common question: What needs to change if development cooperation is to remain relevant in a rapidly changing world?

Some themes surfaced again and again. We have a narrative problem. Too often, development cooperation is defined by its failures rather than its successes, making it harder to explain why international cooperation matters in an interconnected world. Partnership must mean more than rhetoric. Participants challenged traditional donor-recipient thinking, arguing that country ownership, trust, and genuine reciprocity must be at the heart of future cooperation.

Projects alone are not enough. While many acknowledged real successes, there was a strong sense that fragmentation and duplication continue to stand in the way of the systemic change countries are seeking.

Europe remains an essential global actor, with important strengths in convening, long-term thinking, and norm-setting. But participants also questioned how Europe can become more coordinated, more predictable, and better aligned with the priorities of partner countries.

New challenges—from climate finance and organized crime to artificial intelligence—are reshaping what development cooperation is expected to do. They also reinforce the idea that no country can tackle today’s biggest challenges alone.

One point particularly resonated: if we want to change the system, we also have to change the narrative. Development cooperation cannot simply be about transferring resources. It must be about creating partnerships that enable countries to solve problems together, share knowledge, and build capabilities for the future. These conversations will help inform the Coalition’s emerging Principles and, ultimately, a small number of recommendations aimed not at defending the current model, but at helping shape what comes next.

We are grateful to Belgian Director General of Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid Heidy Rombouts for opening our afternoon session, to European Commission Director General Koen Doens for joining us for an intimate lunch, and for Irish Aid Director General Michael Gaffey for staying with us all day, right before Ireland assumed the presidency of the Council of the European Union. We are also grateful that both Belgium and Ireland are supporting countries of Coalition.

A big shout-out to Emerging Public Leaders, the pan-African non-governmental organization dedicated to building a new generation of highly capable civil service leaders across Africa, for inviting a number of members of the Coalition Secretariat alongside Ofovwe Aig-Imoukhuede to an online consultation discussing capacity building and development cooperation as part of its Monrovia conference.

The discussion underscored the importance of investing in people, and participants provided some blunt and insightful thoughts on what has, and has not, worked with previous approaches to capacity building. You can read more here.

We timed our second meeting with Co-chairs and Commissioners to coincide with London Climate Action Week. While mostly busy with the Coalition’s work, we did greatly benefit from joining key conversations that focused specifically on actions required, centered on the priority, expressed needs of low- and middle-income countries. Our thanks to E3G, BII, EBRD, and the Country Platforms Hub for facilitating a space where countries led in sharing their experience with country platforms and then others joined to discuss strategies for partnerships to mobilize capital at scale. We are also grateful to the Rockefeller Foundation and CIFF for leading a focused discussion on possible additional MDB-related G20 proposals. And it is always a pleasure to be at ODI with the wonderful Marta Foresti of the Lago Collective to discuss Innovators at the In-Between and how culture and development work together.

Finally, Alexia Latortue was pleased to join Stefan Dercon as part of his two decades’ long tradition of hosting African Central Bank Governors in Oxford for a private retreat and off-the-record conversation on the new world we are in, given the collapse of foreign aid, geopolitical tensions, debt issues, and the other many trends that affect African economies.

Appearing on CNBC Africa, Coalition Co-Chair Yemi Osinbajo makes the case that rather than just adapt to changing global tides, low- and middle-income countries need to take the lead in redefining the future of development cooperation and shaping their own futures. To be successful in that effort, they will need to help mobilize more actors, move beyond traditional models of development cooperation, and cogently advance their own agendas.

Here is a great piece from Marie-Noelle O. Nwokolo, published by the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET), reflecting on the consultations in Kigali and Rabat—and highlighting some interesting takeaways about what this might mean for the future of international cooperation.

Rather than asking whether countries have ownership, the article argues that the more important question is whether cooperation strengthens the systems, institutions, and capabilities that enable countries to shape and sustain their own futures.

And here is a reflection on the Brussels consultation along with a sincere thanks from everyone at the Coalition to the many people who have shared such terrific insights along our journey.

On 16 July, Head of Secretariat Alexia Latortue will join ODI Global Advisory’s Lead Change LinkedIn Live series to discuss building coalitions for a new era of development cooperation and the lessons emerging from the Coalition’s global consultations. Register here.