SPECIAL REVIEW OF SLOVENIA This special review of the development co-operation policies and programme of Slovenia was conducted at the request of Slovenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and undertaken with the agreement of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC). Two DAC members, Finland and Switzerland, served as examiners for the special review which took place from June to December 2011. The special review was launched at a seminar in Ljubljana organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 18 April 2012. SPECIAL REVIEW OF SLOVENIA FOREWORD The OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) welcomes the contribution of all providers of development co-operation resources and expertise towards the common goal of reducing global poverty and increasing sustainable and inclusive economic growth. The DAC hopes to forge new and mutually beneficial relationships with these new partners in international development co-operation. Among the range of bilateral providers of development co-operation, priority partners for the DAC include OECD members that have not joined the Committee and European Union member states that joined the Union after 2002 (sometimes known as the “EU 12”). The DAC aims to share lessons and views on development co-operation with these countries, learn from their development experiences, share expertise on aid management and statistics, increase information exchange regarding development co-operation activities and financial flows and engage in policy dialogue with them. In recent years, non-DAC OECD members and EU 12 countries have been increasing their interest in the work of the DAC, particularly in view of some ambitious commitments to scale up their development co-operation. Slovenia has participated in several DAC meetings since 2008, including its High-Level and Senior-Level Meetings. It has reported its official development assistance (ODA) to the OECD since 2005. Slovenia has also sought to learn from the good practices of DAC members and, in 2010, participated as an observer in the DAC Peer Review of Portugal. In November 2010, Slovenia approached the OECD with a request for a special review. These special reviews draw on the DAC Peer Review methodology and provide critical, helpful and respectful insights to support a country’s own efforts to strengthen its development co-operation programme and systems, including its role and obligations as a member state of the European Union. Special reviews also provide an opportunity for the DAC to learn from the perspectives and experience of providers of development co-operation beyond its own membership. The special review of Slovenia took place from June to December 2011. It included a visit to Ljubljana by the special review team in September 2011 for discussions with key stakeholders. The special review team comprised representatives of two DAC members - Finland and Switzerland - and staff of the OECD’s Development Co-operation Directorate. This report presents the main findings from the special review, including a set of recommendations for further improvement. While the Slovenian authorities have reviewed the report for factual accuracy, the findings and recommendations remain those of the special review team. 1 SPECIAL REVIEW OF SLOVENIA ACRONYMS CMSR* Centre for International Co-operation and Development DAC Development Assistance Committee (of the OECD) EU European Union GDP Gross domestic product GNI Gross national income MFA Ministry of Foreign Affairs NGO Non-governmental organisation ODA Official Development Assistance OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development SCA Slovenian Court of Auditors * Acronym in original language. Signs used: EUR Euro USD United States Dollar Notes on data used: Slight discrepancies are due to rounding. Exchange rates (EUR per USD): 2007 2008 2009 2010 0.7305 0.6933 0.7181 0.7550 2 SPECIAL REVIEW OF SLOVENIA SLOVENIA’S AID AT A GLANCE SLOVENIA Gross bilateral ODA, 2009-2010 average, unless otherwise shown Change 2009 2010 2009/2010 NET ODA By income group (USD mn) Current (USD m) 71 59 -17.8 Constant (USD m) 71 61 -14.0 0.9 0.2 In Euro (million) 51 44 -13.6 ODA/GNI 0.15 0.13 Bilateral Share 35% 38% 5.7 LDCs 10.2 Other low-income Lower middle-income TOP TEN RECIPIENTS OF GROSS ODA Upper middle-income USD million Unallocated 1 Croatia 3.6 2 States Ex-Yugoslavia 2.9 3 Bosnia-Herzegovina 1.6 4 Montenegro 1.5 6.7 5 Serbia 1.4 6 Kosovo 1.4 7 Macedonia, FYR 1.3 8 Albania 0.4 By region (USD mn) 9 Afghanistan 0.3 10 Palestinian Adm. Areas 0.3 0.1 0.6 0.6 Sub-Saharan Africa 0.5 0.3 South and Central Asia 7.3 Other Asia and Oceania Middle East and North Africa Latin America and Caribbean Europe Source: DAC database, OECD. 14.5 Unspecified 3 SPECIAL REVIEW OF SLOVENIA TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................... 5 CHAPTER 1 STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK AND ORIENTATIONS ................................................... 8 Consolidating Slovenia’s place as a donor .................................................................................................. 8 The importance of reforming the legal foundations ..................................................................................... 9 Sharpening the strategic direction should be a priority ................................................................................ 9 Clarifying the difference between humanitarian assistance and development co-operation ..................... 11 Continuing to build public awareness and support .................................................................................... 12 Making Slovenia’s development co-operation more effective .................................................................. 13 Taking account of the impact of public policies on developing countries ................................................. 13 Recommendations ...................................................................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER 2 ODA CHANNELS, VOLUMES AND ALLOCATIONS ................................................ 15 ODA has been growing but is no longer on track to reach agreed targets ................................................. 15 The budgeting process provides a good basis for development co-operation............................................ 16 Multilateral aid is the mainstay of Slovenia’s ODA .................................................................................. 17 Focusing geographically and using different channels in different regions............................................... 17 Bilateral ODA is fragmented and implemented by a fixed group of partners ........................................... 18 Slovenia can build on its good practices in providing humanitarian assistance ........................................ 20 Recommendations ...................................................................................................................................... 21 CHAPTER 3 ORGANISATION AND MANAGEMENT ...................................................................... 23 Slovenia is building a co-ordinated structure that should help it to deliver better aid ............................... 23 The MFA needs to manage important human resource challenges ........................................................... 24 The current business model is atomised and generates high transaction costs .......................................... 25 Slovenia needs a system for monitoring performance, learning and knowledge management ................. 27 Recommendations ...................................................................................................................................... 29 BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................................................................................ 30 Tables Table 1. How the Slovenian government works with key implementing partners for bilateral ODA .......... 25 Figures Figure 1. ODA volume as a per cent of gni: not on track to meet the 2015 target ........................................ 15 Figure 2. Bilateral and multilateral ODA in 2010 ......................................................................................... 17 Figure 3. Slovenian bilateral ODA by region in 2010: a focus on Europe .................................................... 18 Figure 4. Main partners involved in implementing the government action plan in 2010 .............................. 19 Figure 5. Humanitarian aid: Slovenia uses a broader definition than the DAC ............................................ 21 Figure 6. How different parts of the system interact ..................................................................................... 24 Figure 7. The two way relationship between high-level goals and objectives of individual activities ......... 28 Figure 8. Key norms and standards for evaluating development co-operation ............................................. 29 Boxes Box 1. Reforming scholarship programmes: Lessons from DAC members' experience .............................. 20 Box 2. Structuring partnerships with NGOs .................................................................................................. 27 Box 3. Foundations of results-based management ........................................................................................ 28 4 SPECIAL REVIEW OF SLOVENIA EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Introduction