Effective Development Cooperation in Myanmar

1. Effective Development Cooperation in Myanmar • Thuzar Khin • Deputy Director, Foreign Economic Relations Department, • Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development, • Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar • Shaping Partnerships Through Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue & • the Contribution of the GPEDC • 7 October 2015

2. Guiding Questions • How can effective development cooperation principles help support the implementation of the SDGs? • What works in effective development cooperation principles to achieve better results? • What are the most pressing challenges and how can they be overcome?

3. A new era in development cooperation for Myanmar • 1st Myanmar Development Cooperation Forum • 2nd Myanmar Development Cooperation Forum • 3rd Myanmar Development Cooperation Forum

4. Improving alignment of development cooperation with Myanmar’s national priorities • Developed a Framework for Social and Economic Reform (FESR) to guide our reform efforts • Created 17 Sector Working Groups to build shared trust and enhance co-ordination • Formed regular Government-Development Partners meetings to provide high-level thinking on aid effectiveness issues • Conducted three annual Myanmar Development Cooperation Fora (MDCF) and Mid-Term Reviews (MTR) • Ministries are developing Ministry-wide and sector-wide plans

5. Building shared understanding by ensuring access to key aid effectiveness documents in Myanmar language • 2005 Paris Declaration & • 2008 Accra Agenda for Action • 2011 Busan Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation • 2014 Mexico • Communique

6. Prioritising mutual accountability with regular monitoring of mutual progress against time bound targets • The Nay Pyi Taw Accord for Effective Development Cooperation • The 2014 • Nay Pyi Taw Accord • Action Plan • The 2015 • Nay Pyi Taw Accord • Action Plan

7. Enhancing coordination at Ministry and sectoral levels • 17 Sector • Working • Groups • Employment • Opportunities • Transport • Health & • Water Supply • Education • Cultural • Conservation • Agriculture & • Rural Development • Statistical Quality • Development • Environmental • Conservation • Trade • Tourism • Gender Equality & • Women’s Empowerment • Electric Power • Communications & • Information Technology • Social Protection & • Disaster Risk Reduction • Media • Public Financial • Management • Public • Administration • Reform

8. Improved enabling environment for civil society • Successfully drafted a new Associations Law with multiple rounds of in-depth and responsive consultations with civil society • CSO, INGO and Private Sector became part of development cooperation discussions • Lifted restrictions on censorship and media • Translated Paris Declaration, Accra Agenda for Action, Busan Partnership Document and Mexico Communique into Myanmar language

9. Increased engagement and contribution from the private sector • Private sector representatives invited to participate in all Sector Working Groups • New Foreign Investment Law means Myanmar is now open for business • UMFCCI now actively promoting the role of business and CSR as a partner in development

10. Built the ‘Mohinga’ Aid Information Management System (AIMS) • Developed a home-grown aid information management system (AIMS) called ‘Mohinga’ • Ability to import aid data directly from the IATI Registry • Launched to the public in February 2015 • Data quality improving on a weekly basis • Almost 1,500 aid activities listed • Plans to import IATI data from UNDP, World Bank, EU and Canada in the coming weeks • www.mohinga.info

11. Enhanced parliamentary scrutiny of aid • Annual reports including grant and loan aid provided to Myanmar’s parliament • Over 30 major loan projects approved by Parliament since 2011 • Parliament now has access to the Mohinga AIMS, providing close-to-real-time data on aid flows

12. Promoted gender equality & women’s empowerment • Creating of a dedicated Gender Equality & Women’s Empowerment Sector Working Group • Launch of a National Strategic Plan for the Advancement of Women • Committed to CEDAW • Draft law banning violence against women nearing completion • Strong support for women’s engagement in private sector through Myanmar Women Entrepreneurs Association

13. Strengthened quality, transparency and openness of country systems • Actively seeking membership of the Open Government Partnership • Admitted as an Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative Candidate Country • Became member of the International Aid Transparency Initiative • Begun a comprehensive process to modernization Public Finance Management systems • Improved 22 places in the 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index

14. Challenges • Data Collection • Limited reporting of disbursement data by development partners • General lack of awareness of what INGOs, NGOs and CSOs are doing • Ministries not fully aware of the activities being conducted • Limited activity location and Technical Assistance data reported to AIMS • Monitoring & Evaluation • Limited M&E capacity to independently assess effectiveness of aid projects at Line Ministry level • Limited knowledge of aid activities at the sub-national level by State/Region governments • Aid to Sensitive Areas • Limited knowledge of aid to conflict affected regions and humanitarian assistance poses difficulties

15. Challenges (continued) • Forward Looking Planning • Long term National Comprehensive Development Plan still under development makes long term planning and aid alignment difficult for development partners • CSO Challenges • Limited knowledge on aid effectiveness principles amongst CSOs poses challenges to CSO engagement • Local CSOs note that they feel sidelined compared to large INGOs, having to compete with more established INGOs for limited resources • Implementation Constraints • Administrative and procedural issues along with a lack of clarity on some issues holds up the effective provision of assistance

16. Effective development cooperation and the Sustainable Development Goals • Myanmar adopted the SDGs at the UN General Assembly, Sept 2015. • Integration of SDGs into Myanmar national development plans – Myanmar has already started including key indicators of LDC graduation into Myanmar’s national plans. LDCs are key elements of the SDGs. • Many goals but Myanmar is starting discussions with different stakeholders to prioritize the goals that are most relevant to Mayanmar • GPEDC principles will help Myanmar achieve this

17. Thank you • Thuzar Khin • Assistant Director, Foreign Economic Relations Department, • Union Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development, • Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar