Accra Forum on Aid Effectiveness

In September 2008, the Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra brought together ministers and officials, civil society organizations and development experts to discuss how to maximize the effectiveness of the $100 billion spent each year on development assistance. The meeting was a follow-up to the Second High Level Forum in Paris in 2005, where donor and recipient countries agreed on a set of principles and clear objectives for aid effectiveness in the Paris Declaration.

Despite consensus around the Declaration, monitoring shows that implementation has been limited. In the lead-up to Accra, ONE called on donor governments to set clear, time bound and specific actions to implement the commitments made in the Paris Declaration.

After long negotiations in Accra, ministers from developed and developing countries agreed on some important steps to improve aid effectiveness. Progress made in Accra includes:

Predictability: Donors agreed to provide regular and timely information on 3-5 year expenditure and implementation plans that developing countries can integrate into their medium-term planning and macroeconomic frameworks.

Use of country systems: Donors made specific commitments to use developing countries' own systems for delivering aid and also agreed to align their monitoring of aid flows and results with country information systems to make it much easier to compare and evaluate results.

Aid transparency: Donors agreed to make aid more transparent, reinforced by the launch of the International Aid Transparency Initiative.

In addition to these measures, donors acknowledged the problem of donor "orphans" and "darlings," and also agreed to include recipient countries in existing donor review mechanisms.

For developing countries, the Accra Agenda for Action on aid effectiveness (AAA) should provide more opportunity to hold donors accountable at the country level. Donors pledged to develop plans outlining how they would pursue principles such as harmonization and alignment, although a lack of clear delivery dates for many reforms leaves much work to be done.

One Blog

News & Analysis from the ONE BLOG

Jun 22 2009

SMART Aid helps harness Africa's agricultural potential

Posted by Beth Adler

The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) is an initiative funded by international donors including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. AGRA works to enhance agricultural productivity in Africa by training smallholder farmers, supporting the development of high-yielding seed varieties, and ensuring that farmers ... More

2 comments

Jun 22 2009

SMART Aid supports Ethiopian farmers to market their food

Posted by Beth Adler

The Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX), which opened in January 2008, provides a low-cost, low-risk way for Ethiopian farmers to trade and get a fair price for their produce. It trades coffee, sesame, haricot beans, teff, wheat and maize. The exchange ensures the quality of the produce, and manages delivery and ... More

1 comments

Jun 19 2009

SMART Aid lays foundations for private sector investment across Africa

Posted by Nora Coghlan

The Investment Climate Facility (ICF) is an initiative that grew from the 2005 Commission for Africa and started operations in July 2007. Its aim is to work with receptive African governments "to make the continent an even better place to do business". It is currently active in ten African countries ... More

0 comments

Jun 17 2009

SMART Aid boosts food production in Malawi through fertilizer subsidy

Posted by Beth Adler

Since 2005/2006, the Malawian government has provided a fertiliser subsidy to smallholder farmers, a programme that is now supported by the UK's Department for International Development (DFID). This subsidy provides vouchers to farmers to purchase fertiliser and seeds that enable them to produce a more robust crop. Like ... More

0 comments

Jun 16 2009

SMART Aid helps mobile phones bring banking to Kenya's rural poor

Posted by Beth Adler

As ONE continues to advocate for SMART Aid, we’ll be bringing you examples on the ONE Blog of how effective development assistance, when implemented correctly, can save lives.In Kenya, as with many places in Africa, opening a bank account requires a minimum deposit which is often beyond the ... More

3 comments

Jun 15 2009

SMART Aid boosts commerce with US through African Trade Hubs

Posted by Beth Adler

Trade, fuelled by economic growth and investment, is an essential tool for poverty reduction. One challenge for many African businesses is navigating the complex rules and regulations involved in exporting to lucrative developed country markets. The USAID "Trade Hub" programs are designed to help African businesses take advantage of the ... More

1 comments

View All Related Posts from the ONE Blog