Experiences and Prospects of International Development AgenciesNew Zealand Agency for International Development

NZAID

July 2006

About NZAID

New Zealand’s Aid and Development Agency

Aid volume – approx. $US0m annually

Central focus on poverty elimination

Core focus on the Pacific

Agency Role

Established in 2002 (semi-autonomous agency within Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)

Contestability of advice – direct reporting to Ministers

policy coherence with national interest objectives

Focus on policy and strategy

Professional understanding on development issues

Aid Effectiveness - impact

Whole of government approaches – aid, trade, debt, immigration

Where do we work

18 core partners – Pacific and South-East Asia

10 multilateral partners

The big six – Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Indonesia, Vietnam

11 countries in the Pacific

Support regional objectives in the Pacific

Principles of good aid delivery

Ownership and led by partner

Focus on good governance

Transparency and accountability – on partner budget or through budget processes

Support stable policy making/settings for pro-poor growth

Environmental sustainability – natural resources

Harmonisation and alignment

Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness

OECD DAC donors – signed in 2004. Key principles:

Strengthen partner countries development planning capability

Align support with partners systems and procedures

Enhanced accountability of citizens and parliaments

Eliminate duplication of efforts

Reform and simplify donors policies and procedures

The Importance of the Millennium Development Goals

MDG’s Provide basis for measuring impact

Pacific second only after sub-Saharan Africa as less likely to achieve the MDG’s by 2015

Implications for NZAID

Changing our business model

“Fewer, bigger, deeper” activities

Stronger focus on policy dialogue

5 year strategies; high level consultations, rolling three year programmes

The Pacific Islands Region

Small, vulnerable island economies

Development performance mixed – slow growth

Fragile states

Donor behaviour can have a major influence (positive or negative) on governance

Major donors are AusAID, NZAID, EU, Japan, France, China, Taiwan, WB, ADB

Pacific workshop on Aid Effectiveness

Working in Fragile States

Take context as a starting point

Establish state building as a central objective

Align with local policy and systems

Recognise the political-security-development linkages

Promote coherence between donors

Delivering Aid

Major change in way we are delivering support

Les s project-based approaches

Focus on sector-wide approaches

Sector programmes

Budget support, Trust Funds, multi-donor projects

Examples of NZAID Engagement

Solomon Islands Education – Sector Wide Approach; Budget Support - $7m p .a.

Papua New Guinea – Health Sector Improvement Programme

Pacific Plan – regional approaches

The Challenge of Visibility

good aid builds the best relationships

Donors can still have visibility within sector or multi-donor approaches

partner ownership

letting go – reducing branding

Working with other donors

Non-DAC Donors

NZAID committed to working with other donors

Sharing collective experiences

Progress harmonisation

Focus on development and stability in the Pacific