Enhancing Effectiveness to Accelerate Sustainable Development
A Global Compendium of Good Practices
Development challenges are increasingly pressing, complex and interrelated. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development responds to this, calling for a whole-of-society approach to development that builds on the collective actions of all stakeholders to deliver long-lasting solutions for people and planet, while leaving no one behind. Recognising the vital role of partnerships in attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Goal 17 calls for the strengthening of the means of implementation and revitalising the global partnership for sustainable development (UN, 2015a).
In this vein, it is necessary to not only mobilise new partners and new sources of finance, but to ensure that all development resources are used as effectively as possible. This is highlighted in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA), which calls for continued efforts to improve the quality, effectiveness and impact of development co-operation1, and recognises the important role of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation in these efforts (UN, 2015b).
The Global Partnership was established following the adoption of the Busan Partnership Agreement, with the aim of advancing the effectiveness of development efforts by all actors. The Agreement was endorsed in 2011 by 161 governments, as well as heads of multilateral and bilateral institutions, representatives of civil society, the private sector, parliamentarians and other stakeholders committed to strengthening the effectiveness of their development efforts (OECD, 2011a). Building on the aid effectiveness commitments made in Rome (2003), Paris (2005) and Accra (2008), Busan marked a fundamental shift in the effectiveness agenda, moving beyond a focus on traditional aid to a focus on development co-operation, which recognises the increasingly important roles of diverse development actors including civil society, the private sector, philanthropy and parliaments, among others (OECD, 2011a).
The work of the Global Partnership is grounded in the four internationally agreed principles of effective development co-operation: ownership of development priorities by partner countries; a focus on results; inclusive development partnerships; and transparency and mutual accountability to one another. Global Partnership stakeholders reconfirmed the importance of these principles to drive development and accelerate achievement of results in Mexico (2014) and Nairobi (2016).
About the Compendium of Good Practices
The Global Partnership’s 2017-2018 Work Programme operationalises the commitments made at its Second High-Level Meeting (HLM2) in December 2016. In this Work Programme, among other crucial priorities, the Global Partnership placed renewed focus on providing support to partner countries in mainstreaming the effectiveness principles into their development co-operation practices (GPEDC, 2016a). In this context, the aim of this Compendium of Good Practices is to provide guidance to partner country governments, as well as other development actors working at the country level, on good practices for implementing effectiveness commitments and overcoming setbacks, drawing on experienced-based evidence provided by the Global Partnership community.
The Compendium outlines common effectiveness challenges and proposes possible solutions based on practical experience of what has worked (figure 2 below). Experience shows that context-specific challenges require context-specific solutions. The Compendium, therefore, should not be considered
1 In this document, development co-operation refers to international actions and activities that: support national or international development priorities; are not driven by profit; discriminate in favour of developing countries; and are based on principles of country-ownership. Modalities used can be financial and non- financial, e.g. capacity building, technology transfer, multi-stakeholder partnerships (Alonso and Glennie, 2015) (Mawdsley, Savage and Kim, 2014).
prescriptive, but rather a source of ideas and inspiration for partner countries seeking to strengthen the effectiveness of their development co-operation. The Compendium is written primarily for partner country government officials, as it is these governments that have the unique responsibility to lead whole-of-society development efforts. However, development partners and other development actors have vital contributions to make, and the Compendium aims to be a valuable resource for these stakeholders as well.
Identifying challenges and solutions
Nine pilot projects on Enhancing Effectiveness at Country Level were supported under the Global Partnership’s work programme and provide a significant source of information for this Compendium. The focus and design of the pilots varied from country to country, depending on effectiveness needs, but the overall aim of the pilots was to build and strengthen the mechanisms and processes underpinning effectiveness, and also to understand the types of actions that work, document best practices, collect and analyse evidence and develop positive and useful stories around effectiveness efforts.
