Progress on Better Aid

What was agreed at Gleneagles?

The G8 countries agreed to focus resources on low-income countries that are committed to growth and poverty reduction, to democratic, accountable and transparent government and to sound public financial management.

Developing countries will need to decide, plan and sequence their economic policies to fit with their own development strategies, for which they should be accountable to their own people.

The G8 countries committed themselves to provide better aid. They will enhance their efforts to provide untied, predictable and harmonised aid through national governments wherever possible. Gleneagles represents real progress for delivering higher quality aid.

How will the money be spent?

We have seen how we raised an extra $50 billion per year by 2010 to help Africa escape from poverty at Gleneagles. Now let's look at how we can best spend the extra money.

Even with the extra billions needed for Africa, this money will only reduce poverty if it is used properly. It is vitally important that all of the extra money raised for the developing world is used effectively. This is explained in detail in the Commission for Africa Report.

DFID and other donors must: 

• first help those who need it most. DFID gives most of its aid to the poorest countries that need it most, including countries coming out of war, which need extra support. 
• make sure that aid supports countries' own development plans. We don't tell countries what to do; they tell us what they want to achieve and we help them achieve it. This means moving away from traditional approaches to putting conditions on aid. 
• ensure that aid strengthens a country's own governance systems - planning, budgeting and accounting - rather than undermining them by setting up parallel structures. 
• ensure that donors' other policies (e.g. on trade) take account of development objectives. 
• Commit to providing predictable future flows of aid so that countries can take on longer-term commitments (e.g. to employ more teachers, or put people on anti-retroviral drugs). 
• work together to deliver their aid with one donor leading. And donors should not try to do everything everywhere. This saves money and effort for both developing countries and donors. 
• untie aid. This means that developing countries don't have to spend a donor's aid money that donor's own goods and services (which the UK has already done). This allows countries to buy goods from the best value suppliers anywhere in the world, and is estimated to increase the value of aid by 30%. 
• be accountable to developing country partners for the way they give aid, just as developing countries should be accountable to their own people and donors for the way they use aid. 

Next we will see how debt relief is vital to Africa's development.

Last updated: 17 November 2005