PHA-Exch> DFID: Working Together to Make Aid More Effective

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Ruggiero, Mrs. Ana Lucia (WDC) <ruglucia at paho.org>
crossposted from: EQUIDAD at listserv.paho.org

 *Working Together to Make Aid More Effective

*

*Ninth Report of Session 2007–08 - Volume I*

*UK** House of Commons International Development Committee –July 2008*



Available online as PDF file [65p.] at:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmselect/cmintdev/520/520.pdf

* *

"…..If the millions of people still living on less than $1 a day are to be
lifted out of poverty donors need to provide more effective aid not simply
larger quantities of aid. The UK has performed well against almost all of
the targets in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, the central
agreement in this area, but global progress has been patchy and slow. The
Accra High Level Forum in September is an opportunity to shine a spotlight
on this lack of progress. The UK's Department for International Development
should aim to make progress there in two key areas: the division of labour
among donors; and developing country ownership of the development process.

The principle of ownership—that the development process should be led by
developing countries themselves—is critical to the success of international
commitments on aid effectiveness. Aid should be driven by need and demand.
DFID should commit to achieving a technical assistance portfolio which is
100% coordinated and demonstrably demand-driven.

The Accra High Level Forum should lead to more effective mechanisms to
monitor progress against a greater range of targets linked to ownership.
DFID must consistently define ownership as a democratic process which fully
involves parliaments, civil society and citizens. Efforts to make aid more
effective depend on credible evidence which links particular actions with
better development outcomes. Large pieces of this evidential base are
missing. DFID must ensure that it is not simply joining a plausible
consensus but has done the research to prove to us and, equally importantly,
the taxpayer that its approach delivers more effective aid. Without it, DFID
is operating on well-intentioned guesswork. Credible monitoring and
evaluation of development impact is needed to show objectively that aid can
make a difference. DFID should actively support independent and
recipient-led monitoring and evaluation initiatives and should submit to—and
encourage other OECD donors to submit to—reviews conducted other than by
peers.



Cooperation with other donors cannot simply be on DFID's terms. Working with
others to make aid more effective requires a certain flexibility of
approach. DFID has so far found this difficult to achieve. It needs to
reassess its engagement on aid effectiveness with other donors so as to give
greater priority to effective coordination over promotion of its own way of
working.



Joint working between DFID and other donors, and indeed DFID working through
other donors, is likely to become a more frequent occurrence. This has
implications for the scrutiny performed by this Committee. DFID must work
proactively to ensure that we have meaningful oversight of all of its work,
however the budget is spent.



The principles contained in the Paris Declaration are as applicable to new
donors, such as China, India and Brazil, as to other donors. DFID must seek
opportunities to share with new donors its own experience of working towards
more effective aid but also to support efforts by developing countries to
draw new donors into a recipient-led dialogue on aid effectiveness.


Implementing the Paris Declaration requires some changes in the way DFID
operates. Staff buy-in is crucial to the success of any change programme and
DFID must ensure its frameworks for assessing staff performance make aid
effectiveness targets a priority…."

* *

*Content***

*Summary *

*Introduction *

*1 More effective aid *

The aid "burden"

The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness

Monitoring the Paris Declaration

The benefits of better coordinated aid

Transaction costs

DFID's promotion of its own model

*2 Ownership *

Democratic ownership

The limitations of ownership

Technical assistance

Predictable aid

*3 Division of labour *

The Role of the EU and OECD as coordinating institutions

*4 Next steps in implementing the Paris agenda *

Delivering results at the Accra High Level Forum

Beyond Accra

Budget support

Staff performance assessment

Evaluating impact

*5 Conclusion *

*
List of recommendations *

* *

* *
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