Ms Ana Paula Lopes Fernandes:

I thank members for their questions. I hope we will have time to hear their views on certain topics because that is also part of our objective at this meeting.

Ireland peer-reviewed us in 2009. We were very pleased with the team and had the opportunity to exchange some ideas. We are now very pleased to be on this side of the table. This is an exercise in peer learning and discussion about challenges and opportunities and how we do things. It is not just an exercise in criticism. It is an exercise in being critical, helpful, very respectful and understanding the policy environment in each country. That is our attitude as examiners. The committee is a peer-learning committee. It is not a ranking committee. That is not the spirit of the committee. For example, we do not have a programme of development co-operation for Portugal in Malawi but I happen to know the country very well. Each of us on the team has a particular expertise in certain areas that could be helpful for the team in addressing the topics that we must address.

It is very difficult to compare what different donors do because they do not all work in the same countries or have the same objectives. Some focus on least-developed countries, LDCs, others on middle-income countries, some are grant-oriented where others are loan or concession-oriented. It is very difficult to have a ranking for performance indicators like a business indicator system.