Launching the first national AidWatch Report in Romania

The International Day for Eradicating Extreme Poverty (17th of October) was marked in Romania by the launch of the first national AidWatch Report – “Romania’s performances as ODA donor, 2007-2012”. For Romania, this is an innovative advocacy tool which emphasizes both the ODA progresses and challenges (related to legislation, funding mechanisms, transparency and support given to the civil society organizations).

The national report provides a very complex view of the 5 years as donor, taking into consideration the international commitments, the national strategic framework of the development cooperation policy, the main actors involved and analyzes the amount of funding spent on ODA projects and activities. A special attention is given to Republic of Moldova, one of the Romania’s main partner countries, with a chapter focused on the Romania ODA disbursed in this country.

Even if the legislation on ODA funding has recently been updated (through Governmental Decision 1052/2011), there is still need for an implementation unit to evaluate and monitor the projects funded from the national ODA budget. The report highlights some recommendations, based on a complex process of consultation with the FOND Policy/Advocacy Working Group and the White Paper of the NGO sector in Romania (launched this month, FOND coordinated the chapter on International Solidarity), as well as relevant events organized for the national development community in Romania (Romanian Development Camp V in July 2012).

FOND has started to disseminate the national AidWatch Report among the decision-makers (Ministries, Parliament, local authorities, other NGOs). The FOND Policy/Advocacy Working Group will be actively involved in future activities of the platform, in order to continue the capacity building process and active engagement in policy work both at European and national level.

Information provided by Adriana Zaharia, FOND