Effectiveness in Practice
On 28 November 2008, over 70 representatives from the government, private sector, academic institutions and non government organisations gathered at AusAID to share knowledge on how to increase the effectiveness of aid delivery. The forum ‘Effectiveness in Practice’, was a joint initiative of Cardno, CARE Australia, JTA International and AusAID held to promote a more coordinated approach to aid effectiveness across the whole aid sector.
All partners in development have a responsibility to deliver aid effectively. Internationally, we are bound by the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and Accra Agenda for Action to provide better results for the poor. Closer to home, we are accountable for the effective expenditure of public funds.
The forum invited honest and open reflection of the effectiveness of the Australian development sector. A strong theme emerging from the day was partnership. Charles Tapp of Cardno said, “There is an enormous agenda that lies ahead of us. To get there, we must work together.” This was echoed by Stephanie Copus-Campbell of CARE Australia, “We need to move together as an industry, recognising each other’s comparative advantage and partnering together on this journey.”
Steve Hogg and Laurie Dunn of AusAID said as Australia scales up its aid commitments and moves towards new approaches to delivering aid more closely with partner governments, the role of Australian private sector, academic and non-government organisations would remain critical to effective aid. “A well-coordinated approach across the sector, underpinned by Australia’s aid partnerships and strategies with partner countries and regional bodies, will become even more important than it has to date”, said Steve Hogg.
To maintain momentum, participants agreed the following:
“We make a commitment to work together in greater partnership to affect positive and lasting change in the lives of people we work with.
Practically, this means we will increase our focus on sharing what we are doing and how we are doing it. We further commit to do this through facilitating in country forums, sharing examples of our practices and having more open and transparent engagement with each other.”
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The hosts of the forum shared valuable insights and experience in a cooperative effort to increase knowledge in the area of aid effectiveness.
Cardno explained how effectiveness is driving changes in the way aid programs are managed. Click here
By way of example, the Australia Nusa Tenggara Assistance for Regional Autonomy Program in Indonesia is building a culture around greater analysis and reporting results. Click here
Another example is the Papua New Guinea Law and Justice Sector Program which integrates gender equality through dedicated resources and tailored suggestions for law and justice sector agencies. Click here
CARE Australia explored the implications of aid effectiveness from an NGO perspective, including a discussion of the ‘program approach’ and the role that NGOs can play in a changing aid environment. Presentations included:
- Aid Effectiveness: An NGO Perspective Click here
- Coherent Programming in Asia Click here
- Paris, Accra, Infinity and Beyond: Where do NGOs fit in? Click here
AusAID presented emerging work on aid effectiveness including:
- Implications of the Accra Agenda for Action Click here
- Performance Management Policy Click here
- Taking Forward the Performance Management and Evaluation Policy Click here
