Managing for Development Results at ADB

Results Matter January 2009

Moving the MfDR Agenda Forward
An excerpt from the Final Report of the Third High-Level Forum Roundtable on Aid Effectiveness in Accra, Ghana

The 2008 Survey on Monitoring the Paris Declaration shows that very few partner countries have quality results-oriented strategies, and progress is generally slow. However, there are encouraging signals that things are moving in the right direction:

• The Roundtable confirmed that good, partner country led practice in MfDR is emerging all over the world.

• Knowledge-sharing and peer-to-peer learning on MfDR within countries, within regions and between regions is increasing. Regional Communities of Practice in Asia-Pacifi c, Africa and Latin America are clearly the important drivers for this.

• A number of country reports linked to the Evaluation of the Paris Declaration revealed some progress in particular areas and ambitious near-term plans to launch strong national systems.

To capitalize on these promising trends and to reinforce a strong political push for institutionalizing MfDR, the Roundtable aimed to identify the remaining bottlenecks, provide concrete key suggestions on how and by whom these can be addressed, and broaden the commitment base among partner countries and development partners.

The following summary emerged from the Roundtable, setting the scene to move the MfDR agenda forward:

• On the input side, MfDR is no longer just about managing aid. While aid will remain a catalyst for the process, MfDR is fundamental to public sector reform and a change process that involves all domestic and external resources available for economic development. MfDR paves the way for transition from aid effectiveness to development effectiveness.

• On the outcome and impact side, MfDR is no longer a technical tool meant only to gear resources towards narrowly defi ned goals and targets. Instead, MfDR refl ects a comprehensive way of thinking on how best to achieve outcomes and impacts, according to national and sectoral priorities as well as being in line with the Millennium Development Goals and other Internationally Agreed Development Goals, including commitments on gender equality, human rights and the environment.

• On the stakeholders’ side, MfDR no longer applies only to selected entities of government. The setting of goals, agreements on targets and strategies, allocation of available resources to activities (i.e. a results-budget link), monitoring and evaluation as to whether allocated resources are making a difference, performance reporting and, fi nally, feedback of information into the decision making process—this entire “MfDR cycle” requires a “whole of society” approach and the involvement of a broad range of stakeholders. Democratic ownership calls for the inclusion of the entire government and the active participation by parliamentarians, civil society, media and private sector.

This message marked a real shift from the focus of the roundtable on MfDR at the Second High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness 2005 in Paris, which had mainly focused on technical issues related to aid management.

But what must be done to implement this broader political MfDR agenda, and to translate it from wishful thinking into reality?

The participants of the Roundtable identifi ed three core essentials that are crucial to achieve results that are sustainable, democratically owned and that make a real difference in people’s lives: Results require robust country systems in place to manage change, they require leadership and they require sustainable capacity.

Read the Accra Agenda for Action