Advisory services on implementing the Paris Declaration

Project description

Title: Project to provide advisory services on implementing the Paris Declaration (PAEDP)
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Cameroon
Lead executing agency: Ministry for Economic Affairs, Planning and Regional Development (MINEPAT)
Overall term: 2007 to 2014

Context

The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, signed in 2005, represents an international consensus on what makes development cooperation effective. Its five principles lay down the main conditions and guidelines required for effective development cooperation: ownership, harmonisation, alignment, results and mutual accountability.

Key points of the Declaration therefore include strengthening national development strategies, using and supporting partner systems, especially in the fields of public finances and procurement, and coordinating and harmonising donor activities.

Cameroon adopted its national development strategy, the growth and employment strategy (Document de Stratégie pour la Croissance et l’Emploi – DSCE) in 2009. This strategy states that economic growth and job creation are prerequisites for effective poverty reduction. The Cameroonian Ministry for Economic Affairs, Planning and Regional Development (MINEPAT) and the Ministry of Finance (MINFI) are coordinating its implementation.

Objective

The government of Cameroon is progressively implementing its national development strategy by consistently applying the principles of the Paris Declaration.

Approach

The project provides advisory services to Cameroon’s government as it implements the Paris Declaration. The assistance provided in implementing and monitoring the national development strategy and in reforming public finances aims to promote a focus on results and ownership, and strengthen partner systems.

The project provides expertise and material in the fields of strategy development, programme and budget planning, and monitoring to support the process harmonisation that is required for the ongoing reform of public finances.

Measures to integrate climate change aspects are included in the monitoring system of the national development strategy. The project also supports the private sector as it contributes to the implementation the national development strategy.

Results achieved so far

The national development strategy now constitutes the key framework of government activities and for the alignment of donor activities.

The government can now assume a leadership role and MINEPAT has taken on responsibility for coordinating implementation of the Paris Declaration. The government and its partners regularly discuss harmonisation and mutual accountability through a multi-partner committee. A regular, joint monitoring mechanism has been established.

Support for the reform of public finances is strengthening partnership systems in particular. As an essential part of the reform is to promote results-orientated management, there has been a significant increase in the results orientation of MINEPAT’s workflows.

The project’s advisory services also contributed to enabling Cameroon’s government to introduce programme budgets in 2013.

In addition, the project supports the development of a system to monitor the national development strategy.

Additional information