Deputy Minister Irena Dimitrova represented Bulgaria at the OECD Development Assistance Committee Summit
20 November 2023 News
Deputy Minister Irena Dimitrova represented Bulgaria at the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Summit of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which took place on 15 November in Paris. As a country participant in DAC since 2018, Bulgaria is participating for the second time in the forum, which is being held for the first time at this level since the Covid pandemic. The meeting was attended by representatives of leading international organisations, including the EU, the UN and the World Bank.
In the discussions at the Meeting, emphasis was placed on greater involvement of partners in the work of the Committee and its values and standards. Participants exchanged views on how to mobilise additional resources for development aid and align financing with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Climate Agreement and the Global Biodiversity Framework. The impact of the ongoing war in Ukraine and the current geopolitical challenges on development aid policy was also emphasized.
‘For Bulgaria, the Development Assistance Committee is the leading international forum for policy coordination and harmonisation of the rules for the provision of official development assistance’, Deputy Minister Dimitrova noted in her speech. ‘Over the past 5 years, we have been sharing development experiences through policy dialogue and exchanges and benefiting from the shared expertise,’ she said.
Irena Dimitrova stressed that as a country in the process of joining the OECD, Bulgaria is actively working to harmonize its legislation, policies and practices with the standards of the Organization. The process is a further drive and opportunity to strengthen our legal framework and development cooperation practices, drawing on the experience and best practices of DAC and OECD members.
The Bulgarian Deputy Minister noted that although our country is a relatively new actor in international development cooperation, we are gradually expanding the geographical and sectoral priorities of our official development assistance. Environmental protection, combating climate change and preserving functioning ecosystems are among the horizontal priorities set out in Bulgaria’s Mid-Term Programme for 2020-2024.