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International efforts are being stepped up to evaluate if changed approaches to aid are resulting in better development outcomes on the ground.

The Office of Development Effectiveness (ODE) represented Australia at a meeting focusing on the Phase II Evaluation of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (PD) held in Auckland from 11 to 13 February 2009.

The challenges of evaluating the impact of the PD are considerable, but Australia has a strong interest in the evaluation given our interest in building an evidence base in relation to development results.

• The PD highlights the importance of evaluating implementation of the PD and the impact it is having in terms of development results and poverty reduction. A two-step evaluation process was developed to achieve this. In broad terms:
• Phase I assessed trends and progress by donors and partners in implementing their PD commitments; and
• Phase II will assess whether changes in aid delivery are leading to better development outcomes.

Key features of Phase II Evaluation of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness

The Phase II Evaluation of the PD will focus on outcomes and impacts - specifically, whether adoption of PD principles are leading to better development results on the ground.

While there is some evidence that aid delivered in ways consistent with the PD can improve the way aid is managed and delivered, evidence is yet to be developed demonstrating that this will in turn deliver better development outcomes.

Phase II will assist in building the evidence base in this regard, but the challenges are considerable - finding and attributing results to the PD across a wide range of contexts and intervening variables (i.e. 'non-Paris' aid flows, political and economic influences, instability or fragility etc) will be difficult. The Phase II evaluation model is realistic about these challenges and proposes a number of approaches to address them, including looking for medium term indicators suggesting the PD is creating the right conditions for improved development results in the longer term.

Trying to extract evidence of impact at these early stages is difficult as there is a tension between the long term nature of implementing the PD principles and the call for short term results. It is therefore critical that the Phase II evaluation take a realistic and pragmatic approach to assessing impacts to ensure the credibility, relevance and ultimate utility of the evaluation.

Looking forward

Further preparatory work for the evaluation will be conducted throughout 2009, with the evaluation proper commencing in 2010. The final Synthesis Report will inform the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF4) in late 2011.

More information

Overview of the Evaluation of the implementation of the Paris Declaration [External Link]