At the end of day two, it looked as though the result of the negotiations would be pretty soft; fine words, but few specifics. But on the third and final day the politicians arrived and the Europeans decided that the final text was not good enough!

They reopened negotiaitons and, as a result, all major donors have agreed to take a number of positive actions on transparency and predictability. They have agreed to provide regular and timely information on 3-5 year expenditure plans, making it much easier for recipient governments to plan.  Donors have also made specific commitments to use developing countries’ own systems for delivering aid. 

This is really important because at the moment almost half of all aid is spent without the government in those countries being involved. The aid goes direct to non-profits, charities, local authorities, hospitals etc. While central governments are not always the best channel for aid, the lack of information-sharing makes it very hard to make the most efficient use of resources. By making a bigger effort to use country systems for aid delivery, donors will also help to build up a country’s internal financial controls. By-passing those systems tends to undermine them.

In addition to these measures, donors have acknowledged the problem of donor ‘orphans.’ In other words, some issues and some countries are neglected by donors and get disproportionally little aid. With better information and transparency, donors should do a better job of spreading aid more fairly and effectively.

We know that aid works when it is based on the actual situation people face in developing countries, when it is used to build local capacity, and when it is carefully monitored – keep in if you like but there isn’t much evidence for this being the case, the way we currently monitor aid is rather contradictory to really wanting to get results…. However some donors have tended to deliver aid according to their own priorities and in line with their own budget cycles. Some donors are a bit too keen to plant their flag on aid and claim credit for it, rather than listening to and working with the people and governments who receive aid to find out what they really need.

This meeting felt like a real step forward.

-Katy Cronin

A team from our London and Nigeria offices is here, joining hundreds of others from government and civil society from around the world, to make aid work harder in the fight against poverty.

We know that effective aid is improving the lives of millions of people, but a slowing global economy and rising food and fuel costs makes it all the more important that every cent is spent well.

There are many ways to improve aid effectiveness. ONE, as part of a new group called “Publish What You Fund,” is concentrating on improving the quality of information on aid spending.

Without good information, planning for schools, hospitals, roads, sanitation and the other elements of development is extremely difficult. Citizens also find it very hard to hold their governments accountable. And without good information, it is impossible to be sure that resources are being used well.

In many very poor countries, up to half of spending on donor-funded development projects is done outside government. This is sometimes necessary if local systems aren’t in place, but this can also lead to a lot of duplication and waste of resources.

At the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra this week, donor and developing country governments, civil society and development organisations are working on a new Agenda for Action on Aid Effectiveness.

The aim is simple – making aid work better in the fight against poverty – but making it happen is harder.

Donors are under particular pressure here in Accra to better coordinate their activities in developing countries with other donors, civil society and local agencies and groups. Developing country governments are also working to improve their internal financial controls.

We’ll keep you posted as the week moves along.

-Katy Cronin, London ONE staff

Next week, a team from ONE is headed to Accra, Ghana for a high-level summit on aid effectivenes. The meeting will bring together government ministers, civil society organizations and development experts to focus on maximizing the effectiveness of the $100 billion of development assistance that is spent around the world each year.

There’s still a long way to go to ensure that all aid is delivered in a way that maximizes results like these. Development assistance works best where it is driven by local activities and initiative, when it is delivered promptly and predictably and above all where there is local accountability for its use.

In 2005, over 100 countries came to consensus on what is necessary for aid to be effective and signed on to the Paris Declaration, which is grounded on five principles:

Ownership: Poor countries exercise effective leadership over their development policies and strategies, and coordinate development actions.

Alignment: Donors base their overall support on partner countries’ national development strategies, institutions, and procedures.

Harmonization: Donors’ actions are more harmonized, transparent, and collectively effective.

Managing for results: Managing resources and improving decision making for development results.

Mutual accountability: Donors and partners are accountable for development results.

The Paris Declaration was an important first step in improving the effectiveness of aid. The next step is implementation. Recent monitoring including ONE’s 2008 DATA Report shows that donors have been slow in translating their commitments into action. The summit in Accra is an important moment for countries to deliver on their commitments and set specific, time-bound actions to implement the principles set forth in Paris.

Stay tuned here for a more detailed look at what ONE is asking for at the summit and updates from our team in Accra.