{"id":1291,"date":"2018-07-07T00:23:26","date_gmt":"2018-07-06T22:23:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/?page_id=1291"},"modified":"2025-01-09T21:42:38","modified_gmt":"2025-01-09T20:42:38","slug":"oda","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/oda\/","title":{"rendered":"Slovak development cooperation: Why Slovakia helps"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1553259727321{margin-top: 50px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]Slovakia recognizes its responsibility for sustainable development and, alongside other nations, is committed to achieving the<\/span> <\/span>Sustainable Development Goals<\/span><\/span><\/a> and<\/span> <\/span>Agenda 2030<\/span><\/span><\/a>.<\/span> It is not only a moral obligation but also a pathway to building a more stable, peaceful, prosperous, and <\/span>equitable<\/span> world.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”510″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]Since becoming a member of the European Union in 2004 and joining the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2000, the Slovak Republic has positioned itself among the world\u2019s most advanced countries. Driven by macroeconomic growth, Slovakia has shifted from being a recipient of development aid to a provider of Official Development Assistance (ODA). What did this journey involve? Here are the key milestones:<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]2003<\/span><\/b>: <\/span>The Slovak Republic moved from being a recipient of development aid to becoming a donor. By creating an institutional, legal, and strategic framework for development cooperation, it established a mechanism to deliver this assistance. Since 2003, in addition to providing multilateral and humanitarian aid, Slovakia has also been involved in bilateral development aid programs and projects in developing countries.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2004<\/span><\/b>: Upon joining the European Union, Slovakia became part of the EU Development Cooperation and began contributing to the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI), the main financial tool within the EU budget for providing aid to developing countries.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2008<\/span><\/b>: The official transition from being a beneficiary to an aid provider was completed.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2013<\/span><\/b>: Slovakia <\/span>became the 27<\/span><\/b>th<\/span><\/b> member of the OECD\u2019s Development Assistance Committee (DAC)<\/span><\/b>\u202f\u2013 the leading international forum for providers of development co-operation. The DAC serves as a forum for policy coordination for the world\u2019s leading donors, defines standards and rules in key areas of development cooperation and fosters the exchange of knowledge and experience. The DAC also sets the standards for ODA eligibility and assembles statistics on aid flows worldwide.<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since 2014<\/span><\/b>: <\/span>Development aid of Slovakia is supported by three pillars: passing on transition experience and support of reforms; elimination of poverty; and assistance to countries affected by conflicts.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The fundamental documents guiding Slovak Official Development Assistance (ODA) are the <\/span>Mid-Term Strategies for Development Cooperation of the Slovak Republic.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”2653″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

The story of Slovakia transformation<\/b><\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]From the 1990s to the beginning of the 2000s, Slovakia underwent\u202fa profound political and economic transformation: from a single-party state-socialist regime to\u202fa pluralist participatory democracy, and from a centrally-planned economy to an open-market economy. Extensive and profound reforms were needed to go through this transition, and increasing the effectiveness of public finance management was a key component of the process.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Legislative, institutional and procedural changes had to be made across public administration. Central and local government relations and competences were rearranged through the process of fiscal decentralisation. Among other things,\u202f<\/span>public finance transparency and accountability has improved, <\/span><\/b>the accuracy and quality of public finance reporting has increased, and cash accounting has been complemented by an accrual-based approach.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Special institutions, such as the State Treasury, and the Agency for Debt and Liquidity Management were set up. The strategic allocation of resources was strengthened through results-focused modernized budgeting.\u202fThe Macroeconomic and Fiscal Forecasting Unit was established at the MF SR to prepare a realistic medium-term fiscal framework. Later, the\u202f<\/span>Value for Money\u202fDepartment<\/span><\/a> (UHP) was established that looks for ways to spend taxpayers’ limited resources in the best possible manner in order to reach their goal. <\/span>The tax system was simplified,<\/span><\/b> and tax collection has improved. The fight against tax evasion and avoidance has also been stepped up. Slovakia succeeded in enhancing personnel skills, and streamlining institutional structures, procedures and decision-making mechanisms.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Public finance reform, regarded as one of the most successful areas in Slovakia\u2019s economic transition back then,<\/span> had a direct influence over the country\u00b4s fiscal consolidation, macroeconomic stability and economic growth.\u202fThis is proven by the fact that <\/span>Slovakia was able to meet the Maastricht public deficit and debt criteria<\/span><\/b> for its entry into the Euro Area since January 2009.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, as a member of the European Union and the Eurozone, Slovakia continues to further improve its Public Financial Management processes.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Development financing challenges<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Despite the achieved results, there are still challenges to be addressed at the political level. They include strategic orientation, aid volume and allocations, and management and organization of the Slovak official development assistance (ODA).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Slovakia\u2019s commitment to development has a distinct financial dimension. The EU has reaffirmed its collective commitment to achieve the 0.7% ODA\/GNI target until 2030, whilst those Member States which joined the EU after 2002 strive to increase their ODA\/GNI to 0.33%. \u00a0At a national level, Slovakia is bound to this goal by the government resolution no. 5\/2017<\/a>.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1553259727321{margin-top: 50px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]Slovakia recognizes its responsibility for sustainable development and, alongside other nations, is committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2030. It is not only a moral obligation but also a pathway to building a more stable, peaceful, prosperous, and equitable world.\u00a0[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”510″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]Since becoming a member of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3305,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1291"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1291"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4188,"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1291\/revisions\/4188"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}