CPS seminar: presenting ODA mid-project results

On February 4th, 2013 the CPS research team working on the “Official Development Assistance (ODA) in the New Member States: Trade Regimes, the Private Sector and the Civil Society as Development Actors” EU-sponsored project had the chance to present the preliminary findings to the center’s academic and administrative staff, interested researchers and practitioners affiliated with CPS, as well as interested external researchers.

Andrew Cartwright, the main investigator and coordinator of the project in Hungary, opened the seminar with a brief overview of the current situation of ODA in Hungary as it is reflected by data collected and analyzed so far. He also discussed a very recent and in the same time very welcomed development concerning the future of the Hungarian International Development Cooperation: the upcoming February parliamentary debate on a Medium-term International Development Framework strategy to be developed until June 30, 2013.

Anna Selmeczi, Marton Leiszen and Attila Bartha shared the preliminary findings in their respective research fields: (1) Non-governmental Development Organizations, their role and struggles in international development, (2) Trade Regimes, forms of aid, and the Aid for Trade, and finally (3) the Private Sector and their involvement in international development. Their findings are based on desk research, three different surveys, face-to-face and telephone interviews, three focus groups and, at this point, one task force with experts from the civil society sector.

The seminar ended with a Q&A session which offered the chance to test some of the findings and perhaps reframe others based on feedback received from the audience.