04
In September 2012, the TaiwanICDF hosted the
International Conference on International Development
Cooperation and the Taiwan Experience. In attendance
were a number of partner country ministers, represen-
tatives of international cooperation and development
organizations, and academics and experts, as well as
representatives of national aid agencies from the United
States, Japan, and other countries. The main issues
discussed at the event were trends in international
development aid and the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs), Taiwan’s foreign aid experience and its
implications, and the development of a global partnership
for development.
President Ma Ying-jeou gave a speech at the
conference and stressed the fact that although the
Republic of China (Taiwan) is not a member of the United
Nations and has no means of participating in UN projects,
it will maintain its commitment to ongoing development
cooperation efforts. The president said he hoped
that Taiwan would continue to promote development
cooperation projects as a partner to other nations in
international development and work toward the UN MDGs
to help thousands upon thousands of citizens benefit from
development cooperation.
Also speaking at the event was Robert B. Zoellick,
former president of the World Bank, who set out his own
expectations for Taiwan. He emphasized that regional,
bilateral and global development cooperation, as opposed
to official state-to-state cooperation, would precipitate
Taiwan’s transition from a provider of traditional forms
of assistance to a powerful, intelligent economy that
can contribute even more to development cooperation
throughout the world.
Pursuing Aid Effectiveness through Increasingly
Diverse Methodologies
In the past, foreign aid played a central part of the
foreign policy of advanced and industrialized nations.
Since the end of the Cold War, however, there has been
a growing trend within the international community for
the decoupling of foreign aid from foreign policy, and
a consensus that foreign aid should be integrated with
issues such as poverty alleviation and humanitarian
assistance, spurring a return to humanitarian-oriented
assistance methods.
Since the UN adopted the Millennium Declaration
in September 2000, the eight MDGs have become
important indicators in measuring the effectiveness of
development outcomes. In March 2005, members of the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) signed the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness,
putting forward five major guidelines for action in aid and
12 indicators for appraising the effectiveness of such
aid. This has provided donors and recipients with a clear
approach toward aid and a framework for measuring
whether aid commitments have been effectively met.
In addition to actively implementing aid projects in
accordance with these standards, many donor countries
and international organizations have attempted to
diversify their approaches to aid. For instance, donors
have allocated authority to their partner countries to
take the lead on development strategy and resource
allocation, offering support for cooperation organizations
and guidance on their implementation procedures and
strategies. Donor countries have also sought to make
aid initiatives more harmonized and transparent and take
better advantage of available synergies, and focused
on allocating aid resources and making decisions with a
results-oriented approach. Finally, they have worked to
achieve greater accountability on the parts of donors and
partner countries for more effective development work.
Such actions have achieved effectiveness in aid projects
by emphasizing the Paris Declaration’s commitments to
“ownership,” “alignment,” “harmonization,” “managing for
results,” and “mutual accountability.”
Consolidating Limited Aid Resources and
Continuing to Implement Reforms
For more than 50 years, Taiwan has been actively
involved in international cooperation and development.
In 1996, in an effort to consolidate Taiwan’s limited aid
resources, the Taiwanese government established the
TaiwanICDF as the country’s dedicated international aid
agency. Sixteen years later, the TaiwanICDF continues
Implementation and Breakthrough:
Leading Taiwan’s International and Diplomatic
Endeavors
Preface
