Effective institutions and good governance for development: Evidence on progress and the role of aid

Recent years have seen governance reforms, including the building of stronger public institutions, move centre stage in aid effectiveness debates. States can only manage development properly, and achieve the sorts of results intended, when they are underpinned by effective and accountable institutions and systems.

The pace of change has been slow, however, and there has been widespread disagreement about the best ways for countries to manage reform. The role of external partners remains contested, with concerns about national sovereignty and the complexities of countries’ political economies often at odds with donor requirements for swift and tangible results.

To examine the evidence on progress in key areas of investment since 2009, donors and partner countries have jointly commissioned four major international evaluations. These studies report on themes of: Public Sector Governance Reform; the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness; Budget Support; and Anti-Corruption. Combined, they cover 22 aid-recipient countries.