New Measures Helping Donor Aid Reach Poorest
MANILA, PHILIPPINES - New aid delivery and management mechanisms are improving the effectiveness of donor assistance and better addressing the needs of impoverished families in developing countries, according to evidence discussed this week at a forum on aid effectiveness. During this week’s 2006 Asian Regional Forum on Aid Effectiveness: Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation, held at ADB's Manila Headquarters, national governments, civil society and international donors reported on progress made since last year’s Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, which provides a framework for reforming the way development assistance is delivered and managed. “While all of us recognize that the volumes of aid and other development assistance should increase to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, we must also accept that scaling up aid effectiveness, as framed under the Paris Declaration, is essential to meet the MDGs in Asia, and elsewhere,” said ADB Vice President Khempheng Pholsena. A further lesson emerging from the case studies is that aid, including disaster response, is more effective when it is based on national development strategies in which communities, local government bodies, and civil society organizations are involved in all aspects of the development aid process. Since last year, measures adopted by parties to the Paris Declaration include clarifying the responsibilities of different governments and donors to eliminate parallel project delivery structures, strengthening country systems and establishing baselines and targets that allow recipient countries and donors to measure their collective performance on aid effectiveness. Partner countries plan to take forward subregional dialogue to advance the implementation of the Paris Declaration, while donors need to address a series of institutional issues. The Forum recognized the importance of evaluation in supporting policy making and aid management, and ensuring that assistance remains focused on achieving development results. A culture of evaluation needs to be developed across the region, together with substantial investments in developing evaluation capacity. Participants discussed the options of a global evaluation framework for the Paris Declaration, to help partner countries assess their progress and capture emerging lessons and good practices as we move towards the next High-Level Forum in 2008 in Ghana. The Forum noted the importance of bringing emerging and non-traditional donors into the aid effectiveness process. The Forum is cosponsored by ADB, the Government of Japan, United Kingdom Department for International Development and the World Bank. About ADB | 
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