Oral

Until the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness was signed in 2005, government and private sector aid earmarked for health improvement in developing countries had historically met with mixed success. Lack of sustainable country-led and coordinated development plans, along with failures in execution have weakened health systems and fragmented health service delivery into a series of project and disease-based interventions. The limited progress made toward Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Four and Five – relating to child and maternal health - reflects both a general lack of consensus on which activities deliver guaranteed effective aid and development assistance, and the lack of donor, partner, and country accountability standards for bringing about social justice. Moreover, there exists a lack of incentives for donor-funded projects to implement partnerships with all stakeholders and rapidly transfer of capacity to local institutions and strengthen existing systems, further impairing aid delivery since these partnerships would ensure the coordinated coverage of underserved populations. The result is often an unknown return on the donor investment, along with disempowered local health authorities and facility and program managers. In 2005, over 100 countries and international organizations signed the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. Progress to implement the declaration has been slow until the Obama administration, which promised to contribute to meeting the MDGs and following the Paris Declarations principles. APHA has had a number of panels to raise awareness and promote discussion on various issues related to Aid Effectiveness. In 2007, a panel explored various efforts to establish accountability measures for donor aid from the perspectives of international donors, aid recipients, and activists. The panel in 2008 discussed how selected organizations put the Paris Declaration to work and adhere to its principles. In 2009, the panelists discussed various approaches to accountability in aid effectiveness. This year the panel will look at aid effectiveness and the role international agencies, NGOs, Faith-based organizations and the private sector play in the delivery of effective aid, and the factors that lead to ineffective aid in fragile states. The panel will make recommendations for improving the delivery of effective aid and the measurement of aid effectiveness.

Session Objectives: * Describe how aid effectiveness and accountability can be monitored and evaluated. * Discuss the factors that tend to result in a lack of long-term sustainability. * Discuss the ways in which public and private partnerships improve aid effectiveness.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH)