A Better Way to Better Aid

With only 4 years left to meet the Millennium Development Goals, and many countries still far from reaching their targets, a renewed commitment is necessary from both donors and developing countries to achieve progress on fighting poverty and disease. At the same time, wealthy nations are tightening budgets and foreign aid commitments are under increasing scrutiny. In order to make progress on development goals, and to maximize the impact and results of every aid dollar spent, countries must heed the call for better aid.

On November 29th, the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF-IV) kicks off in Busan, South Korea. While participants take stock of progress made, or lack thereof, on aid effectiveness commitments from Paris (2005) and Accra (2008), the true test will come in how countries and partners tackle key challenges to development effectiveness and commit to concrete action moving forward. By making clear and measurable commitments on transparency, accountability and results, HLF-IV can not only make aid more effective, but can also take an important step to ensuring that all development resources – aid and beyond – are used to their utmost potential in the fight against global poverty.