Koenders spreekt op de donorconferentie in Rwanda (En)
(het gesproken woord geldt)
Introduction
The Right Honourable Prime Minister of the Republic of Rwanda, the honourable Minister of Finance, honourable Ministers, Excellencies and members of the diplomatic corps, honourable Members of Parliament, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
It is a great honour to be here with you today at the opening of the 8th Annual Government of Rwanda and Development Partners Meeting. I consider the kind invitation from the honourable minister of Finance, James Musoni, to participate in this meeting and give an opening speech, to be a sign of the friendship minister Musoni and I have developed over the past years. We have worked together in the Development Committee of the Bretton Woods Institutions and are in regular contact. This is a sign of modern and pragmatic partnership I highly appreciate. The self-confidence of our two countries functioning in a complex and highly globalized world has led to open, frank and warm dialogue. That is the future. From the old paradigm of development aid to the new paradigm of cooperation.
The theme of this development partners meeting is: 'Beyond aid: Innovative mechanisms for financing the EDPRS.' Indeed, this is a debate which logically follows from the meeting we had last September in Accra and the Accra Agenda for Action that resulted from it. Let me use the time that I have available to zoom in on what Accra means for our cooperation and dialogue. Also, I would like to look ahead to the Doha conference, which we will attend this weekend, and where we can show that also in times of financial crisis we maintain the partnership between rich and poor countries. The Doha conference also is directly linked to the theme of this development partners meeting.
Accra
In Accra we set out an agenda for a more effective and modern development cooperation, based on equal partnership. In my view, this implies a more business-like approach which should be based on what I would like to call a development contract. A contract by which we mutually agree on the results to be achieved and the contributions from both parties to attain them.
Rwanda has made tremendous progress since 1994, and I sincerely congratulate you on this. Your economic performance has been impressive. Rwanda’s progress has also been characterised by consistent improvement in governance, especially in the fight against corruption and by better-managed public finances. Recognising Rwanda’s potential and achievements, the donor community has aligned its various cooperation programmes with the objectives set out in Rwanda’s own Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy. We need to continue this approach and improve on it. Accra has set out our joint operational agenda to do this. Alignment is a key element, but also mutual accountability, which includes a frank and open dialogue on principal issues. And here it takes two to tango.
Alignment
First on alignment. I will continue to make efforts for better use of country systems and improving transparency of the Netherlands assistance as well as of other donors. Indeed, the donor community in Rwanda already has made important progress in this respect. Still, we need quite some steps if we fully want to meet the Accra commitments. As an example, I want to mention the recent World Bank report on Aid Architecture which presents the case of health sector financing in Rwanda. In the health sector, only 14 percent of total donor support is channelled through the Ministry of Health, another 12 percent goes through local governments. The remaining 74 percent is managed by donors themselves or channelled through ngo’s. This would make it difficult for any government to make sure resources translate into results. Apart from issues of management and resource volatility, government is faced with a misalignment of funding in relation to the country’s burden of disease. Whilst Rwanda’s HIV rate is at a relatively low 3 percent, 46 million dollar of donor assistance is spent on AIDS. By contrast, only 1 million dollar is spent on integrated management of childhood diseases, whilst Rwanda is confronted with a high infant mortality rate of 118 per 1000. This is just to demonstrate that aid effectiveness also depends on better donor behaviour, and that there is still a long way to go, also for development partners.
Mutual accountability and political dialogue
Next, on mutual accountability. The concept of a development contract implies a business-like, open and transparent relationship. A mutual agreement about targets, results to be achieved and impact on poverty. This also assumes a dialogue on results as well as on factors influencing these results. From my perspective, for Rwanda, the dialogue would be centred around three core themes: Rwanda’s economic growth agenda; governance and human rights; and regional peace and security.
Rwanda’s economic growth agenda
Despite being situated in one of the most volatile regions in the world, Rwanda has developed a long-term vision and shown the tenacity it needs to realise the ambitious socio-economic goals it has set for the coming decade. Rwanda has made tremendous progress, and I sincerely congratulate you, because you also have specific constraints such as being a landlocked country and having a high population growth. Your economic performance has been impressive.
President Kagame wants to move from aid to trade and from support to investment. I could not agree more, because the private sector is a key player in achieving sustained economic growth and poverty reduction. In the Rwandan context, this means first and foremost: investment in infrastructure – in roads and energy. Investment in education and in developing the skills the labour market needs. And finally, all the elements of a good business climate must be in place: adequate laws, corporate governance, and transparency and predictability of laws and regulations. The cost of doing business is still too high in Rwanda. Much more is needed to facilitate the role of business in a social market economy. Otherwise private investors might be discouraged to come to Rwanda and it may also hamper domestic investment by small and medium enterprises.
In the context of increased private sector investment, I am pleased to announce that two sectors have been selected, energy and water, in which Rwandese business proposals can be considered for financing from the new Dutch investment facility ORIO. This is untied aid aimed at risk sharing and in that way stimulating investments. Another example is FMO that helps investors to cope with currency exchange risks. Also there are promising initiatives together with private sector on a number of value chains that start at the local level and follow the chain to the end user. These are examples of the kind of Private Public Partnerships that Rwanda has in mind. A best practice of strong government performance is in my view the financial sector of Rwanda. It allows competition and direct foreign investment, whilst reinforcing the National Bank of Rwanda’s role in guaranteeing the solvency of its financial institutions. It is interesting to see that the Dutch RABO-bank has chosen to invest in the Rwandan financial sector. The RABO-bank is a cooperative bank, which gives it a special status in the financial world and the base of its strength is indeed financing small scale farmers’ productivity. It has survived the financial crisis because it never went for the casino-capitalism.
The strong and fully justified emphasis on economic development reflects an important dimension of universal human rights: the socioeconomic well-being of all people. However, Rwanda still ranks among the poorest countries in the world. Poverty is not decreasing as fast as we would like, and inequality is actually rising. A fair distribution of income contributes to poverty reduction. But it is also important politically. The main driver for stability is increased economic prospects for poor people. We are positive about the various programmes Rwanda has put in place that squarely address this issue. To name a few: continued decentralisation, provision of rural infrastructure and promotion of regional integration. These are all crucial elements in this approach. Increased wealth cannot reach rural areas if the roads that lead there are poor or non-existent.
Governance and human rights
I consider human security and the protection of human rights to be essential conditions for sustainable development. For this reason, monitoring the human rights situation is part and parcel of any development cooperation relationship. I recognise that Rwanda has made important strides in this area and welcome the finalisation of the Joint Governance Assessment and the inclusion of human rights indicators in the Common Performance Assessment Framework. On top of that it is important to allow human rights defenders sufficient scope to address individual, but also more general, cases involving human rights violations. They are at the heart of development
Regional peace and security
The third issue I would like to address in the dialogue is the regional context. The regional context is difficult. Economic and political integration is needed to find a way out of war and crisis. It reminds me of Europe in the fifties. The Netherlands and Rwanda have some similarities. We are both small countries with big neighbours. In the Second World War II Germany was our enemy, but we have seen that regional integration has brought new relations, peace and welfare. Likewise you can invest in economic and political integration with your neighbours, including Congo, and in that way change the pattern of the relations from conflict to joint interest. Small countries like ours can only gain by pooling our sovereignty more with our neighbours.
You all know that the humanitarian situation in North-Kivu is appalling and arranging humanitarian assistance for civilians and internally displaced people has been very difficult. The human suffering caused by the recent outbreak of violence is horrendous. Yesterday, I visited Goma and the Kibati camp to see for myself what the current situation is. There is an accountability issue for me here as well. The Dutch parliament wants to know what the impact of years of humanitarian and other support has been for the region.
I commend the leaders of this region, including president Kagame, for their efforts to find a way to end the violence in North-Kivu. The recent conference in Nairobi showed the willingness of the Great Lakes countries to take responsibility to try and create a peaceful Great Lakes Region.
The current relative calm is fragile, however. I therefore urge all parties to do more to positively influence the peace process. I did so yesterday in Congo and today here in Rwanda. I call on Rwanda to use all its influence to stop incentives, economic or otherwise, that fuel the conflict.
But we as Europeans should also take our responsibility and seriously address the problem of FDLR leadership in Europe and do more to stop illegal exploitation of natural resources, which is fuelling the conflict. It is for that reason that I will discuss the trade in illegal materials with stakeholders in the Netherlands, in line with EU efforts to combat illegal trade in products from war zones.
The Netherlands’ commitment to regional stability is reflected in its unwavering support for the many efforts aimed at peace and development in the Great Lakes Region:
Apart from substantial humanitarian assistance and support for stability and stabilization efforts in Eastern DRC, we also invest in the development of regional energy, which is a real joint interest for the region. In my view this is extremely important, because this is where regional cooperation and integration starts.
Doha: Financing for development
Last but not least, I would like to say a few words about aid modalities and potentially innovative ways of financing development. This is a subject that will be discussed in detail during this Development Partners Meeting. The only way to achieve the Millennium Development Goals is to engage non-conventional partners, particularly from the private sector, in development cooperation efforts. I am very much encouraged by the public private partnerships involving for instance Dutch insurance companies and banks in improving access to health services in African countries.
True partnership should be about: a more business-like, open and constructive cooperation and dialogue about investment choices, objectives and achievements. And mutual accountability for what we did to attain better results. It is my sincere wish that this will be the spirit of this development partners meeting. The spirit of true partnership.
Right honourable Prime Minister, honourable ministers, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
I would like to close by wishing you strength and wisdom in your efforts to develop Rwanda further, and I hope that this conference will be an inspiration for everyone here today and tomorrow.
Thank you.