DAD Community of Practice Meeting,
Yerevan, 5 October 2009
Aidan Cox, Aid Effectiveness Adviser
UNDP Regional Centre, Bangkok
Outline of presentationWhy were DAD’s brought in as part of
response to Tsunami?What did they offer?What lessons did we learn?
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National desire to demonstrate accountability:to affected populationsto donor partners
Better planning: reducing overlap & gaps
Quality and Quantity: delivery against promises?are the funds being spent? what are the results? – output levelwhat about impact? – partnership with
departments of planning, statistics boards, DevInfo, etc
value for money – partnership with INTOSAI, SAIs
Tsunami Aid Tracking: why?
DAD, RAN, e-DIMS: practical tools to support aid effectiveness
Ownership
Mutual Accountability
Managing for Results
Harmonisation
Alignment
Accessible to Everyone
Full Transparency
Ownership
How Much has been Promised?
Mutual Accountability
4 DADs tracked over US$8.5 billion of
tsunami assistance
Which parts of my country have receiving
funding?
Alignment
Who is Active in my District?
Mutual Accountability
What is happening at sector level?
What sectors face gaps? Is their
duplication?
Recovery Aceh-Nias (RAN) Database
Alignment
What are they doing?
Are there any Results?
Will it benefit me?
How we unblock Bottlenecks?
Managing forResults
Supporting better decision-making
Decision makers need to know:how are needs evolving?are development indicators shifting the
right way? ie – are our joint efforts (policy and investments) having the desired results?
are there differences between and within districts?
do we need to adjust our policies, programmes & projects so they do a better job of meeting needs?
Aid Effectiveness through Capacity DevelopmentNot just systems, but people, skills,
services – mutual understanding
But…
What did we learn?
Programme
Implementation & Monitoring
National Development (Reconstruction) Plan
External Resources
Aid Information
Management System
Domestic Revenue
Aid Policy
Medium Term Budgetary Framework
Sector Plans Sector Working Groups
Loans Grants
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Collective dialogue informs formulation of NDP and NDP determines types of Sector Working Groups
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AIMS tracks physical progress of programme implementation and informs future programming
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NDP informs AIMS record of needs, which promotesalignment of aid by comparing supply with need
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AIMS informs collective dialogue at national and sectoral level about aid allocations and development progress
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AIMS tracks foreign aid flows and informs future resource allocations (foreign & domestic)
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Sector Working Groups guide programme planningand review its implementation
Lessons learned:Know what you need
There was no clear statement of needs against which you can align supply Maldives was alone in having a quantified National
Recovery & Reconstruction Plan Needs were not well quantified or geographically
disaggregated (Lesson for the needs assessment teams – donor and government)
Hard to align aid supply with need, if there is no consensus on needs per location
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Lessons learned: Get in Fast and Tell a Story
AIMS and teams should already be in place as part of (a) disaster preparedness; (b) integrating aid in national planning and budgeting
Systems & people need to be in place fast – else donors/implementers push ahead independently – and data has little impact on aligning allocations with need: Post-disaster and reconstruction programmes were
designed fast; monies were quickly allocated.Data matters only when it helps tell a story:
We get excited about data collection – and ask for updates too often Much more emphasis needed on analysis/packaging –
implications for decision-makers
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Lessons learned:Living & breathing data: make it matter
Data & analysis counts for little unless strongly linked to dialogue mechanisms and decision-making processes of government & donors
RAN had advantages – embedded concept note approval process (but some CNs caught up with facts on ground; approval process not without flaws)
Sectoral dialogue mechanisms weak Mostly show & tell – little space to support evidence-
based decision-making Ideally, use your AIMS to prepare sector investment
programmes and your national budget – these things have to be done – much else does not.5
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Lessons learned:Keep it simpleNational authorities, often advised by
inexperienced international consultants, wanted bells and whistles RAN was user un-friendlyUpdating was burdensome (and too frequent)Push back and advise “no, phase it, go to the
next level once you’ve proved core competence and relevance”
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Lessons learned:Politics can make or breakDAD Maldives – more buy-in and impact than DAD
Sri LankaMaldives: MoF, MoFA, Planning ministries didn’t like
each other much, but each got something out of DAD – shared resource.
Sri Lanka: Government created TAFREN (stand alone Tsunami response institution) – seemed powerful, but lacked legal mandate, disliked by others (eg MoF), and great work by DAD team had reduced impact
Collaboration across government agencies (eg through joint oversight of system) is make or break
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Conclusion
Government, UNDP and Synergy’s tsunami response: first time governments, donors and
citizens had quick access to aid data in a multi-country disaster
Aid transparency was higher than perhaps any other major disaster
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ConclusionsBut we needed to be far quicker
Governments need to invest before a disaster – as part of a commitment to regular aid effectiveness
We need to tell a story that has the power to change how business is done
Keep it simpleAid systems and data need to help regular
people get their regular work doneUnderstand – and use – the politicsVital: Collaboration across government,
anchored in policy, and showing measurable results
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