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Key Text Baselines and suggested targets for the 12 Indicators of Progress. Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness

Author: OECD
Date: 2005
Size: 41 pages (709 KB)

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Summary

This paper outlines the twelve indicators of progress on aid effectiveness as agreed by the group of donor and partner countries party to the Paris Declaration of 2 March 2005. It specifies the assessment criteria and targets used to monitor various indicators including partner countries’ public financial management (PFM) and procurement systems as well as several aspects of donor countries’ aid implementation. The targets are designed to track and encourage improved accountability among partner countries, and increased collaboration between donor and partner countries in the provision of aid.

Field-level questionnaires undertaken by the World Bank and desk reviews based on World Bank, IMF and OECD analyses established indicative baselines for each indicator, from which targets for 2010 will be calculated. Following the Paris Declaration, two rounds of aid effectiveness monitoring will be undertaken by 2008, the first in 2006 to ascertain precise baseline figures.

The methodology for measuring these indicators involves a number of quantitative and qualitative assessments, related to the capacity and transparency of partner countries’ PFMs and procurement systems and the degree of co-operation between donors and partners.

To promote reliable PFM systems in partner countries, four assessment criteria have been identified: a comprehensive and credible budget linked to policy priorities; effective systems of expenditure and revenue; timely and accurate fiscal reporting; and clear assignment of expenditures and revenue to each government area. The assessment process will also monitor the management, reporting and auditing procedures implemented by partner countries’ PFM systems.
To encourage reliable public procurement systems, four ‘performance pillars’ are evaluated in partner countries: their legislative and regulatory framework, institutional framework and management capacity, procurement operations and the transparency of their procurement systems. The assessment process will also monitor the management, reporting and auditing procedures implemented by partner countries’ procurement systems.
A range of indicators were selected to monitor the degree to which donor countries’ support is integrated with national government systems, such as the proportion of aid flows reported on government budgets.

To foster co-ordinated aid strategies and strengthen capacity in partner countries, various targets were set for 2010. These targets aim to promote results-oriented practice in partner countries’ reporting, PFM and procurement procedures, while encouraging donor countries to provide reliable, untied aid flows which accord with national budgetary concerns:

The proportion of aid flows using partner countries’ own PFM and procurement systems should be increased. The reliability of these systems should be enhanced.
Co-ordination between partners and donors will be enhanced by targets evaluating government reporting of aid, the number of programme-based aid projects and the proportion of joint field missions and country analyses.
Accountability in partner countries will be promoted by increasing the proportion of mutually accountable countries with transparent and monitorable assessment frameworks.
The proportion of partner countries with national development strategies linked to expenditure frameworks and budgets will be monitored.
Partner countries’ capacity will be enhanced by increasing the co-ordinated provision of technical co-operation programmes and the avoidance of parallel implementation structures which duplicate the work of partner government ministries.

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Source: OECD-DAC Secretariat and World Bank, 2005, ‘Baselines and Suggested Targets for the 12 Indicators of Progress. Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness’, OECD-DAC, Paris
Author: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), http://www.oecd.org