HATS - Aid Effectiveness at the Sector Level

It is at the sector level that one can appreciate the real progress, challenges and remaining problems in using the existing aid effectiveness tools so sectors can offer real-life testing opportunities. Looking at the sector level allows for measuring and reporting about impact and changing the life of the people. Looking at aid effectiveness with a sector lens ensures a stronger link with the MDGs and development agenda (3 out of the 8 MDGs are directly health related).

Health is one of the most – if not the most - complex and fragmented sectors. There are around 100 global health partnerships; in 2006, OECD reported that 29 countries in SSA counted between 18 and 23 donors active in the health sector with a handful accounting for the bulk of aid and real opportunities for better concentration of aid.

Health aid has very significantly increased in the recent period and captured an increasing part of ODA (total bilateral commitments to health accounted for 5.3% of ODA in 1980-1984 and 7.8% of total ODA in 2006). Yet results remain too slow towards the MDGs and other important international goals, particularly in SSA. Achieving progress in this area is a prerequisite to a large number of development outcomes and to sustainable growth. So looking at health from an aid effectiveness standpoint is a way to ensure that aid effectiveness is not only about process but about achieving impact on development.

Because of its complexity, the health sector provides lessons that can be useful for adapting and fine-tuning the aid effectiveness framework. Other sectors have been interested by the work in health and the health work stream should play a role of leverage and invites in fact all sectors to think about their contribution to the aid effectiveness.