Latvia becomes a member of OECD's development committee
In a significant move, Latvia has officially become a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC), a prestigious international forum for setting standards and establishing best practices in development cooperation. This membership, effective from 2025, marks a new era for Latvia's role in global development.
Following its accession, Latvia's political priorities and key development cooperation projects are centred on supporting sustainable development aligned with the 2030 Agenda in priority partner countries. The country's development and foreign policies are closely intertwined, with a commitment to official development assistance (ODA) that emphasises environment and climate change, albeit on a scale that remains modest compared to DAC averages.
One of Latvia's regional priorities involves supporting Ukraine and EU Eastern Partnership countries, where it aims to promote resilience, governance, and sustainable development. While the specific projects are not explicitly listed, Latvia's general policy emphasises support for these countries to promote stability, democracy, and socio-economic development following EU and OECD principles.
In Central Asia, Latvia's approach is consistent with promoting sustainable development goals, although the precise projects or thematic focus are not detailed in the available data. Given Latvia's alignment with EU and OECD strategies, cooperation likely involves governance, environment, and possibly education or innovation initiatives.
Latvia's contributions in Africa remain limited in scale but follow the principle of supporting sustainable development and climate-related projects. Coordination with other donors is important, especially as major donors adjust aid flows. Latvia likely complements efforts by larger donors through targeted programs, possibly in education and environmental adaptation.
Cross-cutting priorities across regions include a focus on environment and climate change, alignment with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, and coordination with larger donors. Latvia aims to implement these global goals in its partner countries, indicating a broad focus on poverty reduction, education, governance, and environmental sustainability.
Latvia's development aid likely supports education initiatives, emphasising the right to free education and equal access, a priority emphasised in the broader international development community. Furthermore, Latvia contributes within the EU framework, which prioritises transparency, mutual benefit, and sustainability in cooperation, avoiding tied aid practices that undermine local development.
The DAC membership will help establish an effective development cooperation policy framework for Latvia. It provides an opportunity for Latvia to build new partnerships and strengthen existing ones in the field of development cooperation. Latvia is interested in sharing its experience of implementing good governance, digitalisation, gender equality, and other development cooperation projects in the EU Eastern Partnership countries, Central Asia, and Africa.
At the recent High Level Meeting of the Development Assistance Committee, Latvia was represented by Ivita Burmistre, the Under-Secretary of State for economic relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, and the Latvian Ambassador to the OECD, Andris Pelšs. Burmistre stated that Latvia is interested in telling the Member States and the wider development cooperation community about support provided by Latvia to Ukraine, with special attention to the reconstruction of social infrastructure facilities in war-affected regions.
This membership marks Latvia's continued engagement in international development cooperation matters and underscores its commitment to supporting Ukraine and other EU Eastern Partnership countries at the international level, one of Latvia's political priorities. Today, Latvia participates as a full-fledged member in the High Level Meeting of the Development Assistance Committee, further solidifying its role in shaping global development priorities.
- Latvia will focus on implementing good governance, digitalisation, gender equality, and other development cooperation projects in its partner countries, as it shares its experiences in these areas within the DAC.
- In line with its political priorities, Latvia will centre its development aid on supporting sustainable development in priority partner countries, with a specific focus on Ukraine and EU Eastern Partnership countries, as well as Central Asia and Africa.
- Given its DAC membership, Latvia aims to build new partnerships and strengthen existing ones, particularly in the areas of finance, infrastructure, business, and general news, as it seeks to contribute significantly to global development.
