International aid architecture

The Paris Declaration was a landmark event in the international development field, bringing together the experiences of the previous decade into a set of internationally agreed principles to underpin aid approaches. However, embedding those principles has proved to be a difficult task, especially in the changing global context and with the emergence of non-OECD donors, some with very different visions of aid and partnership.

While the Paris principles of ownership, alignment, harmonisation, mutual accountability and managing for development results remain at the heart of the international development discourse – for the moment at least – global economic and political shifts are transforming the aid landscape at speed.

Emerging economies such as the BRICs are becoming major donors, even though some are still receiving aid themselves. Their aid priorities and policies are not necessarily the same as OECD donors, who themselves are operating under ever more pressure to show the results of their investment.

What’s more, the realities of the country contexts in which donors increasingly choose to work - so-called ‘fragile states’ - can present further challenges. Yet despite these shifts in global aid practice, OECD research shows that some progress is being made, particularly in reducing tied aid and in strengthening country systems via budget support.

As a result of these changing circumstances, the concepts underpinning the international aid architecture, and the main actors within it, are currently under scrutiny. Principles such as ‘ownership’ and ‘harmonisation’ are discussed, but more action is required if they are not to end up as unrealistic dreams. What scope is there for a globally unified approach to aid, and what should it look like? How can the growing tensions between domestic priorities and global needs be best resolved?

Clearly, the debate needs to be grounded in robust evidence of successful aid practice and strong analysis of emerging trends, challenges and threats to an effective international aid architecture. In the run-up to HLF 4, OPM will be working on analysis of the future of the multilateral aid system and on donor coordination. Prior to HLF 3, OPM undertook several pivotal studies, including evaluating the application of the Paris Declaration in fragile and conflict states and examining international arrangements for mutual accountability.