More nefarious proposals from Kemal Dervis & Associates

From the "Joint evaluation of UNDG contribution to the implementation
of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (first phase)"

20. UNDG should make increased use of national systems for support services, when appropriate and to the benefit of the partner countries, in order to strengthen national capacities and reduce transaction costs. Such support services include: procurement, security, information technology, telecommunications and banking, as well as planning, reporting and evaluation.

21. UNDG should further harmonize and simplify its business practices in order to increase the accountability and transparency of operational activities while ensuring that development assistance to partner countries is provided in a coherent fashion that supports capacity development. Practices that could be improved include: budgeting, audit functions, procurement systems, and professional expertise, including the adoption of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards.

22. UNDG should measure the cost of non-harmonized approaches to development assistance and further standardize and harmonize the concepts and practices to reduce transaction costs.

23. UNDG should create specific, measurable, achievable and relevant results frameworks and strategies that enable partner countries to design, monitor and evaluate results in the development of their capacities at different levels to achieve national development goals and progress towards the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals.

24. It is recommended that UNDG encourage governments of partner countries to initiate and conduct joint and country-led evaluations to assess the contribution of the United Nations development system to national development plans and strategies, and to systematize and disseminate lessons learned from these exercises as mechanisms for mutual accountability.

25. UNDG should reinforce its commitment to strengthening the capacity of partner countries, at their request and with their ownership and leadership, to coordinate external assistance, including system-wide and sector-wide approaches and budget support, and to make the best possible use of such assistance, especially by being involved in national planning and monitoring processes and linking the aid effectiveness agenda to the broader development effectiveness
agenda.

26. UNDG should harmonize its approach among its members and other development partners to strengthen national capacities. Capacity development is commonly associated with various forms of support aimed at individuals (training), institutions (organizational development) and the enabling environment (support to policies and strategies). UNDG should contribute to the capacity of partner countries to optimize the use of new aid modalities.

27. UNDG should further develop and strengthen its knowledge management systems and expertise, including resources available at the regional level and from non-resident organizations, to better assist partner country needs for capacity development.

28. Incentives to implement the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness should address directly the factors that stand in the way of progress, especially with respect to harmonization. UNDG should address the structural obstacles to the adherence of the Paris Declaration principles as part of the broader United Nations reform process. This goes beyond the subject of the present evaluation, which addresses the implementation of the Paris Declaration, though it clearly affects the ability of UNDG to deliver development assistance efficiently.

29. UNDG should adopt a complementary approach to incorporating cross-cutting issues like gender mainstreaming, capacity development and rural development, as was done in response to HIV/AIDS. In addition, UNCTs should review the adequacy of their arrangements and efforts aimed at gender equality and rural development in countries with substantial rural poverty by going beyond social concerns and addressing rural poverty on a sustainable basis, thus recognizing in a systematic way the need for improvements in production and income.