Asian Liberals tackle ODA in Siem Reap Conference

(April 26, 2006/ Siem Reap, Cambodia)  The Council of Asian Liberals & Democrats (CALD) opens today the four-day International Conference on Public Accountability in Overseas Development Assistance at the Sokha Angkor Hotel.

This conference, hosted by the Sam Rainsy Party of Cambodia and supported by the German liberal foundation, Friedrich Naumann Stiftung, is aimed at identifying best practices with regard to public accountability associated with ODA; identifying the approaches to accountability adopted by major donor institutions; enabling participants to develop a mature view of the problems of accountability; identifying innovative trends and tools in combating the misuse of aid, including the role for parliaments, political parties, media and civil society; and, identifying appropriate tools for monitoring ODA, ensuring transparency and involving public participation.

Among the speakers and session chairs are Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy; Geert van der Linden, Vice President of the Asian Development Bank;  Democratic Party of Hong Kong’s founding chairman, Martin Lee;  Liberal International President and former speaker of Northern Ireland, the Lord Alderdice; Thai journalist Kavi Chongittavorn of The Nation; and GTZ’s Andreas Proksch.

Attending the event are parliamentarians and political party officials from Burma, Cambodia, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Spain, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and the United Kingdom.  Members of civil society, academia and media will also attend.

CALD is an umbrella organization of liberal and democratic political parties in Asia. The current Chairman of CALD is the Hon. Franklin M. Drilon, President of the Philippine Senate.

Click here for more information on the ODA conference.

Categorised in: News Article

This post was written by CALD