Shifting Norms, Multiplying Actors, And Empowering Voices from The Global South: The G20's Role in Shaping the Emerging Landscape of International Development Cooperation

Global challenges require collective responsibility and a clear, updated, and participatory set of principles and norms to shape needed actions. Multiple crises, including the unequal impact of climate change and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, are acting as accelerators and catalysts of norm transformation in the changing landscape of International Development Cooperation (IDC). In this context, voices from the Global South have an important role to play in setting the agenda, priorities, and potential solutions to the major challenges of a growing community of actors. Norms that previously evolved and served the interests of one particular group of actors seem no longer fit for purpose, including those related to development cooperation and its objectives (the Official Development Assistance concept and target); how it is delivered (modalities, principles), who is responsible and who benefits from it (accountability and eligibility), how it is assessed (development effectiveness principles and measurement frameworks), and how it is agreed upon (policy and norm-setting spaces). The Presidency of the G20 process in the Global South for three consecutive years offers a valuable opportunity for Southern priorities to affect change, promoting the shift to more updated and participatory norms for IDC. Recommendations for action by G20 members are: (1) prioritize inclusion and participation throughout the process of norm determination; 2) build upon existing norm deficiencies; 3) put in place a strong monitoring structure such as a G20 agreements observatory and 4) engage with other IDC policy spaces to ensure universal adherence to established norms.