Organizing the Third High Level Forum

Who is organizing this conference?

The Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF 3) will be hosted in Accra by the Government of Ghana on 2-4 September 2008. Overall responsibility for the organization of the HLF 3 (as well as monitoring the Paris Declaration) rests with the Government of Ghana and the Working Party on Aid Effectiveness. The Working Party is an international forum in which equal numbers of bilateral donors and partner countries are represented (23 each), with participation from all major multilateral banks, the OECD, and the UN. Under the umbrella of the Working Party, a Steering Committee, chaired by the Chair of the Working Party with the World Bank and the Government of Ghana (GoG) as vice-chairs, meets often to provide advice on the content of the Forum. A Core Group, comprised of the Government of Ghana, the World Bank, and OECD is undertaking much of the preparatory work, particularly that concerning logistics.

Were there any preparatory events for this conference? If so, who attended, when and where did the events take place, and what did they achieve?

A number of regional consultation events are taking place during the period April-June 2008. Their purpose is to allow partner countries, as well as civil society organizations from the South, to comment and provide inputs into the preparation of the event, and have their views reflected both in the debates at Accra and in the outcome document, the Accra Agenda for Action. Regional Development Banks are leading and organizing the consultation process in preparation for the Accra HLF. The Inter-American Development Bank is organizing together with the Government of Colombia an event for all Latin American and Caribbean countries in early June 2008. The African Development Bank organized a regional workshop during the last week of April in Kigali, Rwanda. Countries in the Pacific, East, South and Central Asia have been invited to 4 sub-regional events organized by the UNDP and Asian Development Bank.

Why is the Forum held in Ghana? Is the HLF3 a forum only for African countries?

Ghana offered to host this global Forum, and this offer was welcomed by the Working Party on Aid Effectiveness. The HLF3 will not only involve African countries, but more than 150 countries from Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

Who will be attending the Forum?

Those invited to the Forum include Ministers responsible for aid and senior officials from Partner countries and Donor countries, Heads of Multilaterals, and CSO representatives.