ANND Program in the Area of Development

Position Statement

The definition of human development is not limited to income anymore, but extends to indicators relating to living conditions such as health, education, housing, knowledge, equality, and sustainability. This approach was reflected in the Millennium Declaration that was issues by United Nations’ Millennium Summit held in 2000. The declaration set forward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as a compilation of the proceedings from various Summits held through the nineties. In 2005, the United Nations Secretary General reaffirmed the commitment of the international institution to the MDGs through linking development to peace and security and human rights.

The MDGs as a tool and not an end

ANND views the MDGs as tools for the civil society organizations to advocate for policy change in their governments, especially that all Arab countries are committed to the achievement of the MDGs by the year 2015. ANND works towards raising the awareness of the Arab civil society organizations on how the MDGs can serve as an effective tool for advocacy campaigns on integration of the goals in national socio-economic policies.

Partnership for development; Strategic mobilization for development in the Arab region

The MDGs presents as well means forenhancing partnership between the governments, the private sector, and the civil society, based on coordination of efforts and information sharing. Yet, the culture of partnership lacks in the Arab countries. This was very obvious in the preparation of the MDG reports, whereby in most Arab countries civil society organizations were not able to participate in the process.

Civil society organizations should have a role in planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, as well as setting of policies based on needs of various social groups. Accordingly, civil society organizations should build their capacities and develop their advocacy strategies to improve their role and effectiveness and their impact on the policy-making related to national development strategies.

In this context, ANND invests efforts to enhance national civil society coalition building around the MDGs and development policies. ANND also works towards strengthening Arab participation in global mobilization behind the MDGs and development processes.

In line of that, ANND has played an active part as a regional focal point for the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) since its launch in 2004. With more than 1500 organizations from around the world rallying their governments to stand up to their commitments and work on eradicating world poverty, ANND sees in GCAP an opportunity to voice out Arab concerns globally and to strengthen ties with global movements. In addition, it is a venue to enhance support of regional and national civil society mobilization in the Arab region, for sound and sustainable development policies and poverty eradication schemes.