Is water lagging behind on Aid Effectiveness? - ODI Briefing Papers 40

• There is a perception that water is lagging behind the education and health sectors on Aid Effectiveness (AE) • Research from Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Uganda suggests that national governance issues may be more important for AE than sector characteristics • Better monitoring is needed on the relationship between the Paris Principles and development results at sector level There is a perception that the water sector is lagging behind education and health in implementing the principles of the Paris Declaration (PD) on Aid Effectiveness (AE) (Box 1). This perception is probably based on the fact that instruments commonly associated with AE, such as Sector-wide Approaches (SWAps), are less developed in the water sector. In addition, water received less attention (at least initially) in Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, and was less well reflected in Medium Term Expenditure Frameworks, than health and education. However, the presence of such instruments does not necessarily translate into better performance against the PD. Closer examination of sector progress towards the PD in three countries – Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Uganda – suggests that the situation is more complex. From the results of an ODI study in these three countries, it appears that progress towards more effective aid in the water, health and education sectors may be affected more significantly by wider issues of national priorities and capacity than by the characteristics of the individual sectors alone. Using indicators developed as part of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness may not reveal the full picture of progress, and the perception that the water sector lags behind other social sectors may mask a more complex situation in which sector progress also depends on the broader governance environment and can differ between sub-sectors. Analysis of three case study countries suggests that a more nuanced and context-specific understanding Is water lagging behind on Aid Effectiveness?