Strengthening the effectiveness of Australia's aid program
The Office of Development Effectiveness monitors the quality and evaluates the impact of the Australian government aid program. The Office seeks to report on the effectiveness of Australian aid and identify areas where effectiveness could be improved.
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Evaluation of Australian aid to law and justice
ODE is conducting a major strategic evaluation to assess the effectiveness of current Australian aid to the law and justice sector, identify good practice examples and highlight important lessons to inform future work. Cooperation with the other Australian agencies involved in delivering law and justice aid will be a key feature of this evaluation.
More information on the evaluation of Australian aid to law and justice
Brookings Institution—Aid Effectiveness Initiative
ODE has established a collaborative agreement with the Brookings Institution in support of the Aid Effectiveness Initiative. The Initiative examines trends in today’s aid industry, analyses the players and their incentives and effectiveness, and aims to improve the development outcomes of aid.
Evaluation of the Australian Aid Program's Contribution to the Papua New Guinea National HIV Response
ODE is conducting an evaluation of the Australian aid program's contribution to the HIV response in Papua New Guinea to assess whether it is an effective approach in that context. This is a strategic evaluation that will inform the Australian aid program's priorities and approach to supporting the PNG HIV response. It is timely to reflect on the aid program's significant contribution over the last ten years, and how well it is set up to support the Government of PNG in its new National HIV and AIDS Strategy 2011–2015. The evaluation covers the PNG–Australia HIV and AIDS Program and activities to support the HIV response in AusAID's other sector programs.
More information on the evaluation of Australia's contribution to PNG's HIV response
Rural development
ODE is conducting a strategic review of Australia’s rural development assistance to strengthen the impact of Australia’s official development assistance (ODA) in rural areas. The review encompasses a diversity of AusAID and ACIAR led activities in five countries and seeks to garner lessons to inform Australia’s increasing support in the sector. By strengthening the strategic coherence of Australian ODA, the review aims to promote deep and long lasting improvements in the lives of the rural poor.
More information on the review of rural development assistance
Civil society engagement evaluation
ODE is conducting an evaluation of AusAID's engagement with civil society in our partner countries. The evaluation assesses how well AusAID is helping civil society contribute to the development of effective states. The evaluation is primarily focused on three country programs: Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Vanuatu. The evaluation is in its final phase and documents to be published include: a literature review, a mapping of civil society engagement in those programs, an evaluation of selected aid activities involving civil society engagement, country program case studies and an overall evaluation report. As reports are finalised they will be made available on this site.
More information on the evaluation of AusAID's engagement with civil society
Evaluation of Australian support to water supply and sanitation service delivery in Indonesia and East Timor
ODE has commissioned an evaluation of Australian support to water supply and sanitation service delivery in Indonesia and East Timor as a part of a series of evaluations and reviews of support for basic service delivery for the poor. The evaluation examines Australian support for the delivery of water supply and sanitation services against international aid effectiveness principles and the country contexts of the two case countries.
International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie)
ODE has established a partnership with The International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) to increase development effectiveness through rigorous impact evaluation on priority development issues. The partnership improves Australia’s capacity to conduct impact evaluations and increases the number of impact evaluations being undertaken in the Asia-Pacific.
Service Delivery for the Poor: Lessons learnt from evaluations of Australian aid
ODE completed a series of evaluations of the Australian aid program’s efforts to improve the delivery of basic services for the poor. This synthesis report pulls the findings together, and draws some crosscutting lessons for the aid program. These findings and lessons are organised into five themes: understanding country context; working with country programs and systems, promoting gender equality, ensuring sustainability and managing for results. The report was prepared by Mark Baird for the Office of Development Effectiveness as a background paper for the 2009 Annual Review of Development Effectiveness. Mark Baird is formerly a Vice President of the World Bank and served as World Bank Country Director for Indonesia.
ODE Overview of Evaluations of Australia’s aid for Basic Education in Lao PDR and Papua New Guinea
The evaluation of Australian support for the provision of basic education services for the poor in Papua New Guinea and Lao PDR is one of three studies commissioned by the Office of Development Effectiveness examining the effectiveness of Australian support for the delivery of basic services.
Overview of basic education evaluation for Lao PDR and PNG [PDF 198kb]
Annual Review of Development Effectiveness 2008—Scaling up in a deteriorating global environment
The 'Annual Review of Development Effectiveness 2008—Scaling up in a deteriorating global environment' was tabled in Parliament on 10 August 2009. Annual reviews of development effectiveness are a core element of the Government’s commitment to increase aid effectiveness and improve the transparency and accountability of the Australian aid program. The Review considers the challenges of maintaining effectiveness while responding to the global recession and increasing the size of the aid program. It finds that Australia’s aid program is well managed and achieving a wide range of results, and that Australia is well placed to play a leadership role in helping our developing country neighbours deal with the impacts of the recession, and ultimately deliver better outcomes for the poor. Annual reviews of development effectiveness are a core element of the Government’s commitment to increase aid effectiveness and improve the transparency and accountability of the Australian aid program. The Review considers the challenges of maintaining effectiveness while responding to the global recession and increasing the size of the aid program. It finds that Australia’s aid program is well managed and achieving a wide range of results, and that Australia is well placed to play a leadership role in helping our developing country neighbours deal with the impacts of the recession, and ultimately deliver better outcomes for the poor.
Is the Paris Declaration helping to reduce poverty?
International efforts are being stepped up to evaluate whether changed approaches to aid, promoted in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, are resulting in better development outcomes on the ground. The Office of Development Effectiveness represented Australia at a meeting focusing on the Phase II Evaluation of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness held in Auckland.