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Partner and donor countries' joint commitments to country-led division of labour can be found in the Paris Declaration (2005) and the Accra Agenda for Action (2008). In addition, the WP-EFF approved the International Good Practice Principles for Country-Led Division of Labour and Complementarity.

In 2007, EU member states committed themselves, through Council Conclusions, to move ahead with DoL under the EU Code of Conduct on Complementarity and Division of Labour in Development Policy. This commitment to DoL was reinforced in the 2009 Operational Framework on Aid Effectiveness (updated 2010).

Working Party on Aid Effectiveness documents

• Division of Labour in the Paris Declaration (March 2005): The PD stresses the need to overcome excessive fragmentation and reduce transactions through more effective DoL. DoL processes should be based on assessments of donors' respective comparative advantages and strive for complementarity.
• Division of Labour in the Accra Agenda for Action (September 2008): The AAA reinforces the commitment to DoL as a strategy to "reduce costly fragmentation of aid". New dimensions are a concern with some countries receiving insufficient aid (often called "aid orphans") and the commitment to start a dialogue on international division of labour.
• Good Practice Principles on Country-led Division of Labour (April 2009): These eight principles aiming to guide partner and donor countries in their in-country-DoL processes were endorsed by the WP-EFF during its spring 2009 meeting. Also available in French and Also in Spanish (757kb).

EU documents

• EU Code of Conduct on Complementarity and Division of Labour (May 2007): The Code of Conduct (CoC) presents eleven guiding principles for EU donors with regard to DoL processes. For example, EU donors committed themselves to focus their involvement in each partner country on no more thant three sectors and to limit the number of active EU donors to a maximum of three to five per sector. The CoC proposes an inclusive approach that is open to all donors under the leadership of the partner countries and also contains references to cross-country DoL.
• EU Operational Framework on Aid Effectiveness (November 2009 updated June 2010): The Operational Framework's chapter on DoL stresses the need to accelerate the FTI and to begin a process of information-sharing and coordination on cross-country DoL.

Related Documents

Division of Labour for Complementarity - Background

Division of Labour: Initiatives and Events

Division of Labour for Complementarity - Methods, Tools and Good Practice

Division of Labour for Complementarity: Country Experiences

Division of Labour for Complementarity: Monitoring, Evaluation and Research