Strengthening the Effectiveness of Aid

Lessons for Donors

Annotation The World Bank and international donor agencies invest substantial resources and effort in development. A continuing challenge is to ensure that assistance is provided and used as effectively as possible. This book surveys recent findings on the effectiveness of aid and the steps the Bank and other development institutions are taking to assess and improve their operations. It examines specific methods for achieving better coordination within programs and among donors and brings together recommendations on how countries and agencies can improve the administration of aid. The study concludes that five conditions are essential for aid to be effective: - Ownership by the government and participation by the affected people - Strong administrative and institutional capacity - Sound policies and good public sector management - Close coordination by donors - Improvements in aid agencies' own business practices.

... judiciary, information and communications, processes for decisionmaking,
budgeting, personnel management, and accountability. Traditional technical
assistance can be improved by avoiding supply-driven programs. Giving more
time to project preparation, avoiding overambitious projects, seeking local
participation, carefully selecting advisers and counterparts, and establishing
better supervision will help to improve the results X STRENGTHENING THE
EFFECTIVENESS OF AID.