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Aid Effectiveness Network news
Newsletter - December 2006
Highlights
Aid Relationships
Aid Harmonisation and Alignment
- On 8 November the United States
Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) announced the selection of three new countries to join the 22 nations now eligible for development assistance from the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA). Moldova, Ukraine, and Jordan have been chosen to begin the process of applying for Compact assistance. The MCC also announced the selection of Niger, Peru and Rwanda as countries eligible to participate in the Threshold program for 2007. For further information please contact Simon Foster, e-mail: s-foster@dfid.gov.uk.
- The Secretary of State (SoS) recently welcomed the progress that the
, the UK will release the £50 million payment that was dependent on this. The SoS asked for a further report in 12 months time, which the World Bank president, Paul Wolfowitz has agreed.
- The Government of Rwanda has been allocated a total of $70 million from the Education for All – Fast Track Initiative, following the successful endorsement of its Ten Year Plan for education. The funding, $26 million for 2007 and $44 million for 2008, alongside new and existing donor contributions, will enable Rwanda to hire an additional 2,400 teachers, build 112,000 classrooms and procure textbooks in all core subjects for all primary school children. All significant steps towards making school a more enjoyable and productive experience for young Rwandan children. For information on the Education for All - Fast Track Initiative, please contact Halima Begum, e-mail: h-begum@dfid.gov.uk. For information on DFID's support to education in Rwanda, please contact Jo Bourne, e-mail: jo-bourne@dfid.gov.uk.
- In some states of Northern Nigeria less than one in four primary school aged girls attends school. Across the 15 northernmost states there are at least 3 million girls of primary school age that are not in school. Typically almost twice as many boys as girls attend school. This is now beginning to change in six of these states due to the Girls’ Education Project (GEP). The first Annual Review of GEP found that girls’ school enrolments were up by 10% or more and actual girls’ attendance was up by over 25%. (Often girls enroll at the beginning of the year, but don’t attend school because of having to work at home.) Gender gaps were found to be about two thirds of their previous levels.
- DFID recently announced a major scaling up of its development assistance to Yemen and signalled an intention to have a 10 year Development Partnership Agreement. This announcement came in advance of the Yemen Consultative Group (CG) meeting which DFID hosted in Lancaster House on the 15th and 16th November. DFID’s programme is currently £10 million per year. The new scaling up plans will see a substantive increase over the next four years to £50 million per year by 2010/11 - a total allocation of £117 million over the next four years. This scaling up is response to Yemen’s high levels of poverty and the fact that it is significantly under-aided. For more information visit the
- Charlotte Seymour-Smith recently visited Pakistan and concluded discussions with the Government of Pakistan on the new ten-year Development Partnership Arrangement (DPA) between the UK and Pakistan. During the Asia 2015 conference in London in March this year, a letter of intent was signed to agree a ten-year Development Partnership Arrangement (DPA). Since then negotiations on the final document have been ongoing in Islamabad, and the DPA was signed during Prime Minister Tony Blair's visit to Pakistan. The Arrangement firms up both governments’ long term development partnership, setting out shared and individual commitments in the fight to eradicate poverty in Pakistan.
Financial Accountability and Anti-Corruption
- On 25 October 2006, the Audit Committee discussed a paper prepared by the Financial Accountability and Anti-Corruption Team (FACT) and the Development Financing and Instruments Team (DFIT) outlining DFID policy to managing fiduciary risk in relation to Poverty Reduction Budget Support (PRBS). This discussion took place in the context of the recently completed joint donor evaluation of direct budget support and the start of an audit of DFID PRBS by the National Audit Office (NAO). The Audit Committee endorsed DFID’s approach, which had been adopted by the Development Committee in September 2001 and confirmed in April 2006. It supported plans for updating the existing guidance and strengthening systems to monitor fiduciary risk. For further details please contact Julie Lynn (FACT), e-mail: j-lynn@dfid.gov.uk, Jennie Barugh (DFIT), e-mail: j-barugh@dfid.gov.uk or Carlos Santiso (FACT), e-mail: c-santiso@dfid.gov.uk.
- On 22 November 2006, FACT, with Growth and Investment Group (GIG), contributed to the second meeting of the Task Team of the Governance Network (GOVNET) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) on taxation and accountability. The meeting, chaired by Ireland, was well attended by bilateral donors (Germany, France, Norway, Switzerland) and multilateral agencies (World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF)). It discussed the DAC work programme on taxation and accountability for 2007/08. It reflected a convergence of interests on the governance dimensions of domestic taxation and the politics of taxation reform, in the context of the planned increase in aid resources and the debate on direct budget support. Sub-Saharan Africa and fragile states received special attention. The team agreed to table an issues paper and work plan proposal to the GOVNET meeting in February 2007, with a view of developing a policy paper. For further details, please contact Max Everest-Phillips (GIG), e-mail: m-everest-phillips@dfid.gov.uk or Carlos Santiso (FACT), c-santiso@dfid.gov.uk.
- At the 12th International Anti-Corruption Conference held in Guatemala City from 15-18 November, DFID were represented by Ben Mellor (Business Alliance Team), Marie Jose Jarquin (DFID Central America) and Tim Steel (FACT). In addition to signing a Memorandum of Understanding on joint working on governance in Latin America with the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and Transparency International, DFID representatives presented on the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and a potential new international asset recovery meeting. For further details please contact Ben Mellor, e-mail: b-mellor@dfid.gov.uk, Maria Jose Jarquin, e-mail: m-jarquin@dfid.gov.uk or Tim Steele, e-mail: t-steele@dfid.gov.uk.
Other Aid Effectiveness Information
- Exactly one year on from DFID’s ‘Better Aid Week,’ Hilary Benn launched on 7 November 2006 two new films on Aid Effectiveness. The first DVD ‘Aid Works’ is a short film presented by Jon Snow. It publicises our work to the general public, summarising what we do, how we help poor people in developing countries and how we ensure that our money is spent effectively. It celebrates the real achievements that DFID has made in helping reduce poverty. The second DVD ‘Making Aid Work’ takes a more in-depth look at how we spend our money in developing countries, using a community in Vietnam as a case study to illustrate our successes. It centres around the key principles of the Paris Declaration of Aid Effectiveness and explains how we prioritise, work with government, align with other donors, ensure accountability, tackle corruption and plan so that the results are sustainable. These DVDs are extremely effective in getting the message across to the public, in a clear and simple way that aid does work. It is a powerful tool in addressing some public cynicism about the effectiveness of aid to developing countries and whether it ever reaches the people it is intended to help. The films will be promoted in the next edition of Developments magazine which is due out early in January 2007. Copies will also be available from DFID’s Public Enquiry Point, e-mail: enquiry@dfid.gov.uk.
- The new Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Factsheets are now available having been updated by the Country Led Approaches and Results (CLEAR) Team together with the appropriate Policy and Statistics Advisers. The Factsheets show the current state of progress towards achieving the MDGs. They also highlight key messages and provide examples of the challenges and success stories for each target. Most importantly, they set out the main things that the UK government is doing to help partner countries achieve the MDGs. The factsheets are a valuable source of referenced information that can help in preparing briefings and speeches and responding to enquires about the MDGs. The references will point readers to where they can get more information about a particular MDG. For more information on the Factsheets, please contact Alasdair Swift, e-mail: a-swift@dfid.gov.uk.
- The World Bank's
Global Development Effectiveness Division (GDED) Restructuring Update
- A warm welcome to Sarah Cooke who has been appointed Head of the Aid Effectiveness and Accountability Department within the new Global Development Effectiveness Division. Sarah will be joining the department early next year, an exact date is yet to be confirmed.
Upcoming Events
- The Third International Roundtable on Managing for Development Results (MfDR) will be held in Hanoi on February 5-8 2007. This follows earlier Roundtables in Marrakesh (2004) and Washington (2002). Inaugurated at the Monterrey Financing for Development Conference in 2002 by the heads of the five multilateral development banks (MDBs), the MfDR initiative is one of the principal precursors of the 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. The common theme is that if there is to be more aid, then its effectiveness in terms of development results needs also to be strengthened. The Hanoi Roundtable is the major international aid effectiveness conference between the Paris High Level Forum (HLF) in 2005 and the Ghana HLF scheduled for autumn 2008. More details on MfDR, and plans for the Roundtable, can be found at
Recent Events
- Overseas Development Institute (ODI), APGOOD, the DSA and DFID recently held a
- "Where are the Poor?" this seminar took place on 6th November from 12.00 to 2.00 pm in 3W14 and AH101. The seminar was about the issue of monitoring poverty being one of utmost importance in our work. Guest speakers included Shaohua Chen (World Bank) and Sanjay Reddy (Columbia University). Shaohua explained how poverty headcounts are calculated and the impact of Purchasing Power Parities on the headcounts. Sanjay presented a summary of his paper on
The co-ordination of the Aid Effectiveness Network, including the Aid Effectiveness newsletter, is now being undertaken by the Country Led Approaches and Results (CLEAR) team, based in Abercrombie House. Catherine Ferry e-mail: c-ferry@dfid.gov.uk and Nicola Cairns n-cairns@dfid.gov.uk are the contacts. To keep abreast of the latest in aid effectiveness, please e-mail Catherine or Nicola who will add your name to the mailing list. Please also let us know of any news you have which relates to Aid Effectiveness. We will be glad to publicise anything you are doing.
May we take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Best wishes for 2007, Catherine Ferry and Nicola Cairns