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.

As ONE, we’ve successfully advocated for billions of dollars of aid that is having a massive impact on the lives of millions of the world’s poorest people. But perhaps just as important as advocating for more money to help put children in schools and distribute lifesaving medications is working to make sure that all aid money is spent well.

Some key figures in the fight against poverty are going to be gathering in Accra, Ghana in early September to discuss improving aid effectiveness. This gives us a key moment to pressure all the key donors like the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and World Bank to improve the quality of the aid they give.

Aid transparency is the key here. Donors need to publish detailed information about what aid projects they are funding so that recipient countries and other donors can effectively plan aid projects. With this in mind, we’re asking the key people going to the Accra summit to commit to deliver on to a set of transparency principles called Publish What You Fund. The principles are:

1. Information on aid should be published pro-actively
2. Anyone can request and receive information on aid processes
3. Information on aid should be timely and accessible
4. Information on aid should be comparable
5. The right of access to information about aid should be promoted

Please take a moment to send a letter to USAID Administrator and Director of US Foreign Assistance Henrietta Fore, World Bank President Bob Zoellick, and other leaders and ask them to agree to publish what they fund.

For more information about aid transparency and effectiveness, check out the Publish What you Fund Campaign.

African development was again the subject of G8 discussions as world leaders gathered in Toyako, Hokkaido in northern Japan from July 7-9 for the 2008 G8 Summit. While the G8 was confronted with multiple global challenges, including climate change and a weakening global economy, the 2008 Hokkaido Summit marked an important “mid point” moment in the fight against poverty. The Hokkaido Summit came at the critical halfway point to both the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the G8 Gleneagles promises to Africa. The G8 are dangerously behind on their landmark commitments to the region, having delivered only $3 billion of the promised $25 billion in additional assistance to Africa by 2010, according to the 2008 DATA Report.

After difficult negotiations, the G8 summit yielded small gains for the poorest. The bulk of G8 agreements on development and Africa and food security reiterated previous pledges rather than outlining new measures to get the group back on track. The G8 did announce plans for a new effort to tackle the global food crisis, though more details are needed to ensure its effectiveness and delivery. They highlighted the UN High-level meeting on the MDGs in September as an important opportunity to review progress and identify actions needed to overcome remaining challenges.

At a time when G8 credibility is at risk due to slow progress in delivering on commitments, there was a strong call for greater accountability in the G8 Communique. The G8 agreed to track progress against previous commitments in health, education, water and agriculture, as well as its compliance with anti-corruption measures.

Overall, the US, UK and Germany provided strong leadership in negotiations and have significantly increased their funding for Africa in recent years.

After the jump, the following brief overview of outcomes for Africa from the 2008 G8 Summit.

-Ben Hubbard

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Tomorrow the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) a network of global development experts from think tanks, humanitarian and development organizations, and advocacy groups, will launch a new report and initiative to bring U.S. foreign assistance into the 21st century.

The launch will take place at the Rayburn House Office Building from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m and the speakers include:

-Rep. Howard L. Berman, chair, House Foreign Affairs Committee
-Rep. Nita Lowey, chair, State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee
-Sen. Chuck Hagel, member, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
-Steve Radelet, Center for Global Development and co-chair, MFAN
-Gayle Smith, Center for American Progress and co-chair, MFAN

and MFAN members:
-David Beckmann, Bread for the World
-Ray Offenheiser, Oxfam America
-George Ingram, Academy for Educational Development
-Lael Brainard, Brookings Institution

Stay tuned. Tomorrow we’ll have reactions from a guest blogger!

-Erin Erlenborn

Yesterday, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs held a hearing to discuss reforming foreign assistance.

The hearing comes just in time. US foreign aid has saved millions of lives and helped millions more overcome poverty. But foreign aid is still underperforming and often fails to reach the people who need it most. At the hearing, Oxfam president Raymond Offenheiser illustrated the problem with a story:

During the Asian tsunami in 2004, the U.S. government responded rapidly and effectively with humanitarian relief. But when it came time to rebuild, villagers in Thailand were delivered unsolicited boats from the U.S. government and other aid agencies. Villagers who were day laborers, not fishermen, before the tsunami, felt obliged to become fishermen in order to put the boats to use. One villager told researchers, “We got too many boats and there are not enough people or fishing spots to go to.” A fisherman in the village quipped, “I think there are more boats than fish.”

During the hearing, Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) remarked: “It is painfully obvious to Congress, the Administration, foreign aid experts, and NGOs alike, that our foreign assistance program is fragmented and broken and in critical need of overhaul.” Republican Ranking Member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) likened the disorder of the current foreign aid structure to a “spaghetti bowl.”

When the bi-partisan HELP Commission convened to study the issue reported their findings to Congress last fall, they marvelled that “not one person appeared before this Commission to defend the status quo.”

Much of this mess is enshrined in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. Over the years, the Act has become a maze of red tape that’s 1500 pages long. It has 33 stated goals and 247 directives – many in conflict with each other. It’s a testament to the commitment and talent of our foreign aid professionals that they have managed to work around the system to continue producing results for the poor. However, even their best efforts are stumbling under the bureaucratic crush.

Oxfam America is seeking reform of US foreign aid to make it more focused on ending global poverty. Also testifying at the hearing were Lael Brainard from Brookings, Steve Radelet from the Center for Global Development (CGD), and former Congressman Jim Kolbe from the German Marshall Fund. Oxfam America is part of a group of nonprofits and thought leaders calling for a new Foreign Assistance Act to create a cabinet-level agency out of the hodge podge of agencies and initiatives working on foreign aid today. The movement gains traction every day. Learn more about Oxfam’s aid reform campaign , and stay tuned for how you can help.

-Porter McConnell, Aid Reform Campaign, Oxfam America