Participants at the third Development Policy Forum (DPF) tackled the question of whether international aid architecture actually gets in the way of aid effectiveness. Today’s growing plethora of aid actors have a wide range of instruments at their disposal, but their much-welcomed additional resources are making the coordination of aid efforts more difficult – and putting an unwieldy burden on recipient countries. Participants acknowledged – and praised – the EU’s recent efforts to streamline its aid structures, but noted that coordination and harmonisation at both international and local levels are needed if global ODA is to be truly effective and live up to the commitments of the Paris Declaration.

Europe has an important role to play in the increasingly complex aid arena and is taking the lead by coordinating cooperation among EU member states. For example, the EU Code of Conduct on Complementarity and Division of Labour in Development Policy – agreed to by the European Council in 2007 – is aimed at cutting red tape, putting money where it is needed most, pooling aid and delivering more aid better and faster by creating a better division of labour among EU donors in developing countries. Internationally, the EU is committed to better coordinating its efforts with organisations such as the World Bank and UN agencies. However, participants were warned that without strengthening institutions in developing countries and emerging market economies, the very good intentions of donors could be jeopardised.

The issue of ownership of development efforts by recipient countries is critical, but for developing countries to truly be in the driving seat, donors must focus on capacity building at both central government and local levels. The answer to the question of whether developing countries should be in the driving seat is a resounding, “yes”, but equally important is whether they can be good drivers. In many instances, the weakest developing countries are being damaged by the complex aid architecture, as they cannot meet the conditions placed on them by donor countries. Participants generally agreed that donors should also focus on creating an enabling environment and strengthening institutions. To this end, the Paris Declaration must be better communicated and understood by both donors and recipients, particularly the principle of mutual accountability, if aid effectiveness is to be achieved.

Download a list of the attended discussants.

The DPF roundtable took place at the Bibliothèque Solvay in Brussels on Thursday 12 June.