In 2011, a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development revealed that global development funding had fallen for the first time since 1997. Years of annual incremental growth in aid were halted by the cold economic winds of the global financial crisis.
Now, while the world’s development organisations continue their dialogue regarding the future of global development at the IMF/World Bank meetings, the need for financiers, policymakers, development organisations and civil society to refocus efforts on economic growth in the developing world is more imperative than ever.
Around the world we are witnessing the inevitable fallout that results from the absence of social mobility and economic opportunity.
In West Africa, Ebola’s grip is tightest in communities that lack adequate sanitation and where education levels are at a nadir. In the Middle East, social unrest continues to pose a significant threat to economic development. In the subcontinent, lack of widespread access to services, energy and infrastructure has long held India’s economy back.
The World Economic Outlook, published earlier this year, underlined that current uncertainties are affecting global economic performance. High levels of public and private debt, emerging market stagnation and uneven growth remain key challenges to development.
International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde has warned that sub-Saharan Africa is still burdened by excessive debt, while the Middle East is hindered by “difficult economic transitions and socio-political strife”.
The report identified public infrastructure investment as a key tool in kick-starting growth. It also recommends that in order to make smart development choices we must look beyond knee-jerk responses to cyclical fluctuations in growth and deliver projects that support sustainable, long-term prosperity.
The UAE – through the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development – is committed to engaging in development projects that deliver tangible benefits to people’s everyday lives – eradicating poverty, while promoting economic growth.
Our participation this week in the annual meeting of the World Bank Group and the IMF in Washington DC, offered us the chance to exchange ideas, refocus our efforts and renew our commitment to identifying and working to resolve the world’s most pressing economic and development challenges.
Our participation also demonstrated our determination to help realise World Bank Group president Jim Yong Kim’s vision of a united global effort to end extreme poverty by 2030 and boost shared prosperity among the poorest 40 per cent of the population of developing countries.
And, we are finding new ways to articulate and support this mission.
The deployment of renewable energy is a sustainable and financially liberating form of development for nations suffering from energy poverty. As an example, this year we inaugurated Samoa’s first wind farm, a 550kw, two-turbine wind farm as part of a wider $50 million UAE-Pacific Partnership Fund initiative, announced during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week in January 2014. Additionally, in partnership with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), we committed concessional financing of up to US$350 million to renewable energy projects in developing countries.
Given the bigger picture, we must however not forget the challenges faced by people at our own doorstep. Across the Middle East today, we regularly encounter people who are denied access to education, public services, meaningful jobs and a better future. Effective development programmes will play a crucial role in mitigating such socio-economic deprivation. To date, our work across the MENA region is extensive. In Morocco, Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain and indeed, right across the Arab world, our presence and commitment is evident. We have supported countries in the region with aid in excess of $14 billion to date, and the work will continue.
The UAE is determined to play an active role in overcoming poverty and ensuring shared prosperity for all. We believe the need to do so is imperative. More now than ever.
Mohamed Saif Al Suwaidi is director general of the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development
