Development Finance Lessons from the MDGs Garry Conille, Regional Director, UNOPS AFO Region 12 November 2014

I- The MDGs Framework Influenced Behaviours 2 After 2005 Most policy statements and poverty reduction instruments used the MDGs as consensus objectives and planning targets; Most sector strategies mention the MDGs and targets as key outcomes Many regional commitments Most donor policy statements Most multilateral assistance frameworks Most Non-state actors involved in development assistance

II- The MDGs Framework led to Measurable Results 3 The coordinated effort in the Health sector, for example, has lead to a fall in the number of under-5 deaths from 12 million to 6.5 million. Countries like Malawi, Liberia, Ethiopia, Timor-Leste, Niger and Eritrea identified as ‘high mortality countries’ – with at least 40 under-five deaths for every 1,000 live births – have already reached or surpassed the MDG target ( WB 2014) During the same time maternal deaths almost halved (WHO, 2014) By 2012 nearly 10 million HIV-infected individuals in low-income and middle- income countries were receiving anti-retroviral treatment – up from virtually zero as recently as 2001 These significant achievements are the consequence of targeted investments influenced to a large extend by the MDG framework.

III- The MDGs Framework led to Narrowly Focused Solutions 4 Improvements in targeted health outcomes without improvements in Health systems Improvements in the number of children who attend primary school without improvements in quality of education Reductions in the proportion of people who suffer from hunger without the improvements in food production systems (agriculture, animal husbandry including aquaculture, and fishing) and their impacts on the environment Despite the fact that national strategies and policies often called for a broader and more sustainable effort, the funding was just not there.

IV- Implications for the Post-2015 agenda 5 The principles of government ownership and leadership must be reinforced Implementation will be the greatest challenge “In January of 2016 what will the post-2015 framework mean operationally for the President of Haiti, of Niger, of Ethiopia…. in terms of resource allocation, prioritization, sequencing, policy changes etc…” A mix of funding modalities where state and non state actors play a complementary role guided by a common framework. Financing for development in the post-2015 era will create new challenges but also new opportunities New roles for traditional actors ODA will continue to be critical for many countries