For the first time, Lithuania has taken part in another country’s development co-operation policy review. The assessment of Slovakia’s policies involved Dovilė Paužaitė, Head of Development Cooperation and Democracy Promotion Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, and Giedrė Biržytė, expert at the Central Project Management Agency (CPVA).
The review was organized by the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) – an international forum that brings together the world’s major aid providers. The Committee currently has 33 members. The findings were presented on 12 September at the OECD headquarters in Paris.
The assessment highlighted several areas that formed the basis for recommendations to Slovakia: how small donors can achieve impact with limited resources, the importance of expertise and human capacity in diplomacy, integrating development goals into government policies, stronger engagement with civil society and the private sector, the role of an autonomous co-operation agency, and participation in EU delegated co-operation projects.
According to participants, the process was not only about evaluating Slovakia’s system and progress achieved since 2019, but also about learning from one another. For Lithuania, it was an opportunity to reflect on its own development co-operation practices, share experience, and draw inspiration from Slovakia’s good practices.
The official report “Review of the Development Co-operation Policies and Programmes of the Slovak Republic” will be published in November.
For Lithuania, this marks an important new experience. As a member of the OECD DAC, the country can both contribute to peer reviews of other states and be reviewed itself. Lithuania’s mid-term review is scheduled for January 2026.
