International Development Cooperation Forum

THE INTERNATIONAL Development Cooperation Forum is part of the Carter Center's Global Development Initiative and was established by former President Jimmy Carter. The Carter Center is located in Atlanta, Georgia, and is operated in partnership with Emory University. Carter and his wife Rosalynn established it in 1982, with a mission to advance human rights and alleviate unnecessary human suffering and poverty. It has provided assistance to people in more than 65 countries, working alongside both the poor and disadvantaged and also high-ranking officials.

The center is a not-for-profit nongovernmental organization that is managed by an independent board of trustees and relies upon donations from individuals, organizations, and countries. Among its successes are mediation in international conflicts, strengthening of democracy, and the near eradication of Guinea worm disease. It has a staff of some 150 people and deploys an annual budget of around $35 million.

As part of the center's peace programs, the Global Development Initiative (GDI) aims to provide a new [Page 556]model of international cooperation that has three core principles: greater country ownership of development strategies, increased participation of civil society in governance and policymaking, and effective international partnership and cooperation.

The GDI works on a bilateral basis with four countries: Albania, Mali, Guyana, and Mozambique. It also convenes international development forums at which high-level officials meet to discuss, analyze, and search for solutions to issues arising from the impact of global forces on poor countries and people. Carter Center facilitators aim to maintain a neutral stance and enable various members of poor countries to fashion National Development Strategies, which aim to outline the transformations necessary within the country not only to withstand the pressures of globalization but also to benefit from them.

The first Development Cooperation Forum was held in December 1992 and was chaired by Carter and former United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali. This forum considered development prospects in a generally optimistic atmosphere resulting from the end of the Cold War. The second forum was held in June 1996 and focused on the developmental process in Guyana. This meeting was designed to review the attempts to create a National Development Strategy for Guyana and involved many different members of Guyanese society.

The third forum was held in February 2002 and was aimed at considering the impact of 10 years of development strategies and changes in the four partner nations of the center. Carter then forwarded the findings of the forum to the subsequent International Conference on Financing for Development, which was held in Monterey, Mexico. The findings included the conclusion, “Duplication of efforts by donors and a lack of accountability among recipient countries continued to perpetuate donor fatigue and developing country disillusionment.”

The findings further called for greater generosity from developed countries in helping others meet their Millennium Development Goals obligations, as well as greater cooperation among the trade, investment, and overseas development policies of the developed countries, which are frequently contradictory and result in negative outcomes overall.

Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 as a result of his international conflict-mediation work and other activities. The fourth forum was scheduled for late 2005 to consider international progress toward meeting the Millennium Development Goals.

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