OPM has been undertaking a Primary Health Care Reform Support Programme for the Government of Georgia since 2003, funded by DFID.  We are pleased to announce the publication of seven thematic volumes that explore the reform process.  These volumes provide essential guides to health systems and policy, intended for policymakers in Georgia and beyond.

In collaboration with Social Development Direct and workingtogether ltd, OPM has recently completed a study focusing on how effectively gender, rights and exclusion are being addressed through the aid instruments, country level dialogue, relationships and decision-making processes through which the Paris Declaration is being implemented. The study is based on six country case studies and provides recommendations on how to improve the complementarities between the Paris Declaration and the promotion of equity and rights.

Tim Ensor is involved in the Maternal Mortality research project (Immpact) at the University of Aberdeen and was asked to give evidence to the House of Commons International Development Committee as part of their investigation into UK support to meeting the maternal health Millennium Development Goal.  See the IDC minutes

Many governments have tried to reform national planning and budgeting systems by installing a medium term budget framework (MTBF). Such reforms often come to nothing because the required changes in attitudes and behaviour of the political and administrative actors do not occur. This paper looks at the three key components of changes, and what is necessary to successfully institutionalise MTBFs.

OPM has recently been selected by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) to provide scrutiny of its Fiduciary Risk Assessments (FRAs).  FRAs are carried out when DFID is considering providing financial aid to a partner country.

In the Paris Declaration, donors and partner countries committed to substantial changes in their behaviour. They also agreed that greater 'mutual' accountability to one another for their performance was fundamental to achieving this behaviour change. In recent years international mechanisms aimed at enhancing this mutual accountability have proliferated. This briefing note asks whether they function effectively as a system and what can be feasibly done to strengthen their impact.