Has the world changed since the Paris declaration of 2005?

.... the answer is yes, according to the independent review of the progress made since the Paris declaration of 2005, commented today at the opening session of the Busan HLF4.

The Aid Effectiveness principles are still a long way from being entirely integrated into the development cooperation practice but they did set a new landscape where development aid is delivered, establishing priorities, promoting quality and offering good practices. The world in which we operate has changed too: we are no longer in a world of developers and developing countries but we are in a world of partners, where developing countries can also be developers, where a large partnership for development is taking shape, formed by a large group of players which go across sectors, latitudes and vocations.

The HLF Busan seems meant to make the big leap forward, moving from Aid Effectiveness to Development Effectiveness, from what is now recognized as a largely donor driven agenda to a more inclusive global partnership for development.

A lot of expectations are then concentrating on the HLF outcome document, which is expected to forge the new way forward.

Will we be up to the challenge?