Evaluations & technical assistance

Thematic Study of the Paris Declaration, Aid and Development Effectiveness

DARA’s participation in the evaluation process of the Paris Declaration was a great opportunity to engage in one of the most important ongoing evaluation exercises in recent years. DARA provided the theoretical and conceptual evaluation framework for the second phase evaluation of the Paris Declaration.
Approved in 2005 by more than 100 countries and considered the international community’s main instrument to ensure the effectiveness of development aid, the Paris Declaration has now been subjected to evaluation. The aim of the thematic study was to define the evaluation framework in order to determine whether the Paris Declaration’s commitments have actually helped improve the effectiveness of development aid. Several studies were conducted in the first phase, among which were studies in partner countries, studies in donor headquarters and thematic studies with the purpose of strengthening aid effectiveness by assessing changes of behaviour and identifying better practices for partners and donors when implementing the Paris commitments. The study DARA carried out took place within the framework of an agreement with the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) which holds the OECD secretariat for the entire evaluation process. The thematic study analysed the appropriateness of the concepts laid out in the Paris Declaration; it also examined the degree to which the included commitments contributed to the effectiveness of development aid and the degree to which links to development effectiveness (a more comprehensive concept than aid effectiveness) could be established. The outcome was a methodological approach proposed for the second phase of the evaluation.

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