Progress in implementing the Paris Declaration

How is progress in implementing the Paris Declaration monitored and evaluated?

The Paris Declaration excluded a monitoring framework for aid effectiveness actions: 12 indicators to assess progress toward a number of the 56 partnership commitments, with targets set for 2010. The 2005 baselines for these indicators were set through a Survey on Monitoring the Paris Declaration, conducted by OECD/DAC in 2006. The World Bank’s 2005 Comprehensive Development Framework Progress Report “Enabling Country Capacity to Achieve Results” for indicators 1 (operational development strategies) and 11 (results-oriented frameworks). The World Bank’s 2005 Country Policy and Institutional Assessment for indicator 2a (reliable national financial management systems).

In response to the Paris Declaration committment of conducting an independent cross-country evaluation, a two-phase Evaluation of the Declaration was conducted. The Evaluation was commissioned and overseen by an international Reference Group, comprising members of the DAC Evaluation Network, partner country members of the WP-EFF and other interested countries, and representatives of civil society. It comprises 8 country-level evaluations of the implementation of the Paris Declaration principles, and 11 donor evaluations focusing on changes in donor policies and guidelines.

Is there a recent assessment of progress toward the Paris Declaration goals?

The most up-to-date summary is the report on the 2006 Survey on Monitoring the Paris Declaration. A second survey was undertaken in January to March 2008, and a report will be presented at the Accra HLF. This information is further supplemented by the World Bank’s 2007 aid effectiveness review Results-Based National Development Strategies: Assessment and Challenges Ahead. Information on the current monitoring round is available here.

What progress has been made so far?

The findings of the World Bank’s 2007 review “Results-Based National Development Strategies: Assessment and Challenges Ahead” show progress toward better-quality national development strategies and better results monitoring frameworks. However, the links between national development strategies and the budget remain weak in most countries, and progress in developing results-oriented frameworks is limited to a handful of countries. Progress is also visible on increased harmonization and alignment of donor support. In particular, all bilateral and multilateral donors base their support in large measure on established country policy frameworks, and program-based approaches, under which donors use common arrangements for fiduciary controls, monitoring, and evaluation, have become increasingly common. The 2006 Paris Declaration Monitoring Survey Overview of Results found that technical cooperation is too much donor-driven, and that good headquarters policies are not always matched by in-country practices. Results of the 2008 Survey will be available before the Third High Level Forum in Accra.

Why did we need another international conference on this issue when the Paris Declaration was agreed only three years ago?

Partner countries and their development partners need to maintain the momentum if they are serious about meeting the 2010 targets. The Third High Level Forum was important because it acts as a follow-up to the Paris Declaration, allowing both partner countries and their development partners to discuss the results of the last monitoring round and identify an agenda for action to facilitate progress toward the Paris Declaration goals.

What is the AAA and where can I get more information on it?

The Accra Action Agenda (AAA) is a short, focused document, that sets priority actions for development partners and donors that will have a high impact and remove key bottlenecks in the implementation of aid effectiveness. The AAA document can be found on this website, as well as a description of the Consultation process.

How does the conference in Accra relate to the UN conferences (the special UN conference to review progress towards the MDGs, and the Financing for Development conference in Doha in December)?

While there is no direct relationship between the Third High Level Forum in Accra and the two other conferences, later this year the conferences are very much linked, and it is hoped that the results from the High Level Forum will feed into the two other conferences. The Doha Review Conference in late 2008 follows from the Monterrey Consensus on providing adequate and increasing resources for achieving the MDGs and other development goals. The aid effectiveness work also stems from Monterrey where it was recognized that demonstrating effective use of aid is very much a part of the argument for scaled-up aid.

What have been the challenges that multilateral and bilateral donors have faced in trying to implement the Paris Declaration?

Among many challenges donors face, a key challenge has been the need to deepen the ownership of partner countries. Donors can do more to build up leadership capacity in partner countries through better designed support systems that creates the opportunities for partner countries to exercise ownership. Another challenge donors face is to strengthen country systems by moving away from poor aid practices, such as donor-driven parallel implementation units (PIUs), which are set up to satisfy donor individual concerns but do not build country development capacity. Upgrading country systems is a major challenge that will require long-term investments and commitments.