25 April 2011 | CIL Seminar Series & Book Launch
Funds for Development: Structures and Governance of Multilateral Financial Development Institutions (MDFIs)
Introduction
One of the focal questions of current development discussions is the question of how multilateral organizations provide funds for development through their concessional windows. Funds for Development: Multilateral Channels of Concessional Financing, edited by Gerd Droesse, and published by the Asian Development Bank, examines the concessional windows of a number of multilateral organizations and the differences in their governance structures, decision-making procedures and institutional frameworks. It also analyzes their associated trust funds and multipurpose vehicles and financial intermediary funds supporting international activities.
The book was launched by the Centre for International Law on Monday, 25 April 2011 with a seminar given by Gerd Droesse, who discussed the publication’s main conclusions. The discussion provided a holistic perspective of the different paradigms of four generations of concessional windows and examined how the organizational structures of multilateral organizations providing concessional resources have evolved throughout the past 60 years.
The presentation established that an organization’s structure is corollary to and intrinsically linked to its institutional framework and governance structure of its concessional windows, and impacts on the way it allocates and distributes funds for development. This structural framework is also crucial to the way the organization regulates matters such as representation in governing bodies, decision-making procedures and voting rights.
The seminar also discussed the adequacy of current funding and resource structures of concessional windows as well as their modalities of concessional financing. It also examined the evolving relationship of organizations in an increasingly complex aid architecture characterized by the proliferation and fragmentation of concessional windows, emergence of new donors, and earmarking of development aid through the emergence of thematic funds.
Book
Click the thumbnail images below to see enlarged versions of the book contents.
About the Speaker
Mr Gerd Droesse studied law and history in Wurzburg and Lausanne and international relations at the Bologna Center of the Johns Hopkins University; as a junior lawyer, he was assigned to the High Court of Hamburg. Mr. Droesse holds the qualification for an appointment as a judge, which comprises in Germany all other legal qualifications.
From 1983 until 1995 Mr. Droesse was employed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. As the legal adviser of the Director of Personnel of FAO, he was responsible for the representation of FAO in internal grievance procedures and issues regarding personnel policies. In June 1995, he joined the Asian Development Bank and was assigned to the Office of the General Counsel. As Principal Counsel and Head of the Special Practice Group: Institutional and Administrative he dealt with many complex administrative, institutional and personnel matters of ADB. Moreover, he was the legal adviser of the Audit Committee of ADB and the focal point for resource mobilization matters (e.g. replenishments of the Asian Development Fund).From October 2006 through October 2009, Mr. Droesse was assigned as Legal Adviser to the ADB Institute in Tokyo. In this capacity, he was responsible for the general institutional and administrative matters of the Institute and performed functions of Secretary. Currently Mr. Droesse holds the position of Lead Specialist, Institution and Coordination in the Office of The Secretary of ADB with responsibility for the implementation of special projects involving governance and institutional matters and knowledge products.
Presentation Materials
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