International development partners, including the World Bank, made an active commitment in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (2005) to share the responsibility to improve the management of international aid so that better and faster development results can be achieved.
The declaration calls for action on both sides of the aid relationship-by aid donors and by aid recipients. It contains five key principles: country ownership (where country partners set the agenda), harmonization, alignment, managing for results and mutual accountability.
Harmonization entails working to coordinate our financial aid and capacity building activities with that of other donors operating in a developing country. It also commits donors and countries to work in unison on regional and global programs, and it encourages stronger partnerships with borrower governments and among donors in undertaking research and analysis. The idea is to benefit from each others' knowledge and areas of expertise and avoid duplication of cost and effort. Reducing the transaction costs of aid for recipient countries and eliminating multiple, burdensome requirements also helps boost overall aid effectiveness. The World Bank is taking steps to promote harmonization by:
- simplifying and streamlining Bank policies, procedures and practices;
- standardizing our procurement documents with those of other donors;
- establishing a better division of labor between ourselves and other donors within countries;
- working through other donors and being flexible to accept their procedures (delegated cooperation); and
- increasing our reliance on the country's reporting and monitoring systems.
Alignment means that our and other donors' development assistance is in line with our partner country's national development strategies, priorities and systems. The aim is to increase country capacity for development through our coordinated technical assistance and to achieve better development results by building and using country systems for financial management, procurement, environmental assessment, project management, results measurement and other related areas. The process focuses on country ownership and government leadership to:
- determine the country's needs and priorities;
- successfully implement the project; and
- measure its outcomes and/or results.
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