It is easy to measure foreign aid results
Jul 29, 2009
Dr. Ian Clarke, in his Sunday Vision column on July 19, asked some very useful and pertinent questions about aid and its effectiveness: What is there to show for the aid volumes that have been delivered? What is the effect on ordinary people? What does th
By Kevin Kelly
Dr. Ian Clarke, in his Sunday Vision column on July 19, asked some very useful and pertinent questions about aid and its effectiveness: What is there to show for the aid volumes that have been delivered? What is the effect on ordinary people? What does the money achieve, in measurable terms?
These are the very questions that we as development partners – and many others – have been asking for some time. In fact, far from “very few people questioning if there is a downside†to aid, recent years have experienced a huge interest in, a healthy critique of, international development assistance. And that is a good thing.
What we need is an informed and rigorous debate — and Dr. Clarke’s intervention and his comments in relation to Irish Aid in that regard are highly welcomed.
In 2007, total net official development assistance (ODA) from member countries of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) worldwide stood at $103.5b. Out of that, over $1,500m was provided for Uganda. That is a lot of money.
Uganda has had a large proportion of government-to-government aid channelled through the budget in more recent years, but even so, this is still less than 50% of all aid to Uganda. And in that regard, there are just as important questions about programme and project aid as there are about aid flowing through a government’s budget — mostly around issues of sustainability, of fragmentation, of creating “islands of excellence†without addressing the deep-rooted systemic issues.
As to aid which is delivered through government systems, the close attention to the integrity of that funding, ensuring that it reaches the poorest, and that it delivers real and tangible results, is uppermost in our minds. Far from being an “easy way to get rid of aidâ€, supporting the budget is a complex, resource-intensive and closely monitored process.
Irish Aid in Uganda, like other donors, has in place a robust system of checks and balances that safeguard our taxpayers’ money. We use a variety of instruments that comply with international standards to appraise Uganda’s eligibility for support through national systems. We then follow up in ensuring that those funds have been used for the intended purpose, that value for money is obtained, and that funds are properly accounted for.
Ireland is spending 150m pounds on poverty reduction in Uganda in the period 2007 – 2009. This includes some 25 million pounds to be spent through Irish NGOs — many of whom have a strong field presence in Uganda. Notwithstanding the challenges, we are confident that Irish Aid is working.
To take just one example, in the education sector, the Government introduced Universal Primary Education 10 years ago. Over those 10 years, the numbers of children at school has increased from two million to seven million.
Irish Aid together with other development partners, supports the national education sector investment plan which has resulted in these improvements. Ireland is also supporting the renovation and expansion of 11 secondary schools and two teacher training colleges in Karamoja, Uganda’s poorest most conflict-prone region, at a cost of $13.6m (sh8b).
Of course much remains to be done. There are considerable challenges in providing good quality education and in ensuring that the majority of children who enter UPE succeed in graduating into secondary school with the required learning outcomes. There are also challenges related to corruption and inefficiency. It is important to acknowledge, however, that many of these problems have been identified by Uganda itself. Working on these challenges, rather than around them, is therefore critical for development. Governments must function effectively, deliver key services, be accountable to their citizens, and cater for the particular needs of the most marginalised in society. This is what we expect of our own governments in Europe.
NGOs can and do play a vital role. Irish Aid and many of our donor partners recognise this and devote a significant portion of our resources to assisting their important work.
We recognise that NGOs can often reach populations and parts of the countries that are poorly served by governments. NGOs can make a difference, but they cannot be governments. They will never achieve the kind of scale of service delivery that is needed. And indeed they are not immune from issues of mismanagement, inefficiency and a lack of accountability.
Another important point: with a possible billion barrels worth of oil lying below Uganda’s soil, and the prospect of a booming oil industry over the coming years with the massive injection of finances which that will bring to the Government, there can be no under-estimating the prize that can be obtained if government systems become more transparent, accountable, efficient and effective. Because instead of aid flows now, Uganda will hopefully be managing the revenue from oil flows in five to 10 years from now. The topic then will be not so much about ‘aid effectiveness’, but ‘oil effectiveness’. But the subject of much of that discussion will remain — is government working well, and how can it be supported?
Results are not that difficult to measure when analysing whether aid works. We have invested a lot of energy — as donors and with our partners in Government — into developing a joint budget support framework. Central to this is the promotion of a more results-oriented public expenditure management in Uganda. It aims to increase the impact of public spending, both on economic growth and on enhancing value for money within the main sectors in which Government invests.
The prime focus is on the final results, very clearly defined. An annual joint assessment should include an assessment of concrete progress with the implementation of specific policy and systemic reforms, and clear and measurable sector progress indicators and actions in key identified sectors, such as education and health.
Far from hoping for results, we are working hard to ensure that the Government and others achieve them.
The writer is the ambassador of Ireland to Uganda
Dr. Ian Clarke, in his Sunday Vision column on July 19, asked some very useful and pertinent questions about aid and its effectiveness: What is there to show for the aid volumes that have been delivered? What is the effect on ordinary people? What does the money achieve, in measurable terms?
These are the very questions that we as development partners – and many others – have been asking for some time. In fact, far from “very few people questioning if there is a downside†to aid, recent years have experienced a huge interest in, a healthy critique of, international development assistance. And that is a good thing.
What we need is an informed and rigorous debate — and Dr. Clarke’s intervention and his comments in relation to Irish Aid in that regard are highly welcomed.
In 2007, total net official development assistance (ODA) from member countries of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) worldwide stood at $103.5b. Out of that, over $1,500m was provided for Uganda. That is a lot of money.
Uganda has had a large proportion of government-to-government aid channelled through the budget in more recent years, but even so, this is still less than 50% of all aid to Uganda. And in that regard, there are just as important questions about programme and project aid as there are about aid flowing through a government’s budget — mostly around issues of sustainability, of fragmentation, of creating “islands of excellence†without addressing the deep-rooted systemic issues.
As to aid which is delivered through government systems, the close attention to the integrity of that funding, ensuring that it reaches the poorest, and that it delivers real and tangible results, is uppermost in our minds. Far from being an “easy way to get rid of aidâ€, supporting the budget is a complex, resource-intensive and closely monitored process.
Irish Aid in Uganda, like other donors, has in place a robust system of checks and balances that safeguard our taxpayers’ money. We use a variety of instruments that comply with international standards to appraise Uganda’s eligibility for support through national systems. We then follow up in ensuring that those funds have been used for the intended purpose, that value for money is obtained, and that funds are properly accounted for.
Ireland is spending 150m pounds on poverty reduction in Uganda in the period 2007 – 2009. This includes some 25 million pounds to be spent through Irish NGOs — many of whom have a strong field presence in Uganda. Notwithstanding the challenges, we are confident that Irish Aid is working.
To take just one example, in the education sector, the Government introduced Universal Primary Education 10 years ago. Over those 10 years, the numbers of children at school has increased from two million to seven million.
Irish Aid together with other development partners, supports the national education sector investment plan which has resulted in these improvements. Ireland is also supporting the renovation and expansion of 11 secondary schools and two teacher training colleges in Karamoja, Uganda’s poorest most conflict-prone region, at a cost of $13.6m (sh8b).
Of course much remains to be done. There are considerable challenges in providing good quality education and in ensuring that the majority of children who enter UPE succeed in graduating into secondary school with the required learning outcomes. There are also challenges related to corruption and inefficiency. It is important to acknowledge, however, that many of these problems have been identified by Uganda itself. Working on these challenges, rather than around them, is therefore critical for development. Governments must function effectively, deliver key services, be accountable to their citizens, and cater for the particular needs of the most marginalised in society. This is what we expect of our own governments in Europe.
NGOs can and do play a vital role. Irish Aid and many of our donor partners recognise this and devote a significant portion of our resources to assisting their important work.
We recognise that NGOs can often reach populations and parts of the countries that are poorly served by governments. NGOs can make a difference, but they cannot be governments. They will never achieve the kind of scale of service delivery that is needed. And indeed they are not immune from issues of mismanagement, inefficiency and a lack of accountability.
Another important point: with a possible billion barrels worth of oil lying below Uganda’s soil, and the prospect of a booming oil industry over the coming years with the massive injection of finances which that will bring to the Government, there can be no under-estimating the prize that can be obtained if government systems become more transparent, accountable, efficient and effective. Because instead of aid flows now, Uganda will hopefully be managing the revenue from oil flows in five to 10 years from now. The topic then will be not so much about ‘aid effectiveness’, but ‘oil effectiveness’. But the subject of much of that discussion will remain — is government working well, and how can it be supported?
Results are not that difficult to measure when analysing whether aid works. We have invested a lot of energy — as donors and with our partners in Government — into developing a joint budget support framework. Central to this is the promotion of a more results-oriented public expenditure management in Uganda. It aims to increase the impact of public spending, both on economic growth and on enhancing value for money within the main sectors in which Government invests.
The prime focus is on the final results, very clearly defined. An annual joint assessment should include an assessment of concrete progress with the implementation of specific policy and systemic reforms, and clear and measurable sector progress indicators and actions in key identified sectors, such as education and health.
Far from hoping for results, we are working hard to ensure that the Government and others achieve them.
The writer is the ambassador of Ireland to Uganda