TASK FORCES ON THE STUDY “Update of the current status of implementation of international/bilateral trade regimes with ODA recipients and the current role of civil society and private sectors as development actors in the new EU Member states” in Estonia
April 12th 2013, Praxis Center for Policy Studies in the framework of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals conducted task forces on the study “Update of the current status of implementation of international/bilateral trade regimes with ODA recipients and the current role of civil society and private sectors as development actors in the new EU Member states”. The discussions in target groups were based on analyses made on development cooperation in Estonia: the role of CSOs, businesses and trade relations in developing countries. It was the final phase of the project.
The United Nations and its partners around the world observed the 1,000 days to the end of 2015 - the target date for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs are the most successful global anti-poverty push in history, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. The Goals have helped set global and national priorities, mobilize action, and achieve remarkable results.
The eight MDGs range from halving extreme poverty rates to halting the spread of AIDS/HIV and providing universal primary education to everybody. “Our development cooperation is also contributing in order to achieve the goals. Although the goal by 2015 is unattainable, Estonia has done a lot and successfully,” said Kristina Mänd.
The discussion explored the role and recommendations of civil society, trade relations and private sector and their impact on development cooperation and partner countries’ objectives. For the first time, such analysis was undertaken in Estonia - besides the impact of CSOs, the role of enterprises and trade relations in developing countries were analysed.
In the eyes of Estonian investors both political instability and cultural peculiarities are important reasons for dismissing investing in several development cooperation partner countries and other developing countries as too risky. The situation would be improved by more efficient cooperation among ministries and better coordination between associations taking part in development cooperation and the private sector. It is likewise necessary to promote trade as a part of development cooperation in order to raise the awareness of the public sector and private sector.
Estonia has systematically dealt with development cooperation since 1998, when in the framework of accession negotiations with EU, also development cooperation activities were set and first projects funded. Since then development cooperation has evolved into an important field in Estonia’s foreign policy. From 2004 the amount of money that Estonia is investing to development cooperation has tripled (from 6 to 18 million). The main work of the development cooperation is done by CSOs in Estonia’s development cooperation priority destination countries, which are set by the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Afghanistan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus). Besides the work of CSOs the role of businesses and trade relations in development cooperation is consistently increasing.
The discussion was divided into three larger task forces: Businesses and development cooperation (Triinu Püvi), associations and development cooperation (Evelin Andrespok) and trade relations and development cooperation (Andrew Rozeik). The main discussion was moderated by Kristina Mänd, the leader of Praxis Academy. This project is funded by the European Union.
