The Minister of State for Overseas Development, Peter Power T.D., has welcomed the outcome of the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, which concluded yesterday in Accra, Ghana. At the Forum, ministers from developing and donor countries and the heads of multilateral and bilateral agencies agreed to accelerate and deepen the implementation of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. Speaking on his return from Accra, Minister Power said:

"The outcome of this forum is a strong statement of the need to improve how we deploy and deliver development assistance. We have identified ways in which we can unlock the potential of aid to achieve lasting development results. I would like to pay particular tribute to the role of the EU in ensuring that the agenda for action we agreed has clearly defined and time bound actions for improving aid practices.

More than ever, we must be confident that the valuable resources channelled to overseas aid are used effectively for the benefit of poor communities."

The Accra Forum reviewed progress since the 2005 Paris Declaration which set a number of targets and benchmarks for overseas aid, including better donor harmonisation, greater use of partner country systems and mutual accountability for development results. The Forum also saw a discussion on the special needs of post-conflict states and the role of new actors on the aid scene, such as philanthropic foundations and non-OECD donors, such as India and China.

Minister Power described the positive outcome to the Forum as "a good beginning to a series of important development events taking place between now and the end of the year". These include the UN’s High Level Meeting on the Millennium Development Goals in New York later this month and Doha Financing for Development Conference at the end of November.