It is a privilege to contribute to programmes or projects of international cooperation that will bring real benefits to people in developing and transition countries. When asked to assist in development cooperation, it is our first and foremost duty to listen to you and your partners' voices.

We do not arrive with pre-cooked menus. Previous involvement in concrete processes of cooperation between donors (Government, NGOs) and partners in Africa and Asia prevents us from dreaming of textbook policies; it rather confronts us with the need to contribute to down-to-earth solutions.

We are not just concerned with outputs but with strengthening on-going processes of change at various levels and stages:

Strategic multi-year planning

What are the key challenges the partner country faces in the coming years? What are the needs of those sections of the population living in poverty? Is the programme of development cooperation a well-targeted response? Is it aligned to partner country systems and priorities? Is it coordinated with other multilateral, bilateral and NGO donors?

Aid effectiveness

Aid effectiveness matters as much as the volume of aid. The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the Accra Agenda for Action set new standards for aid delivery. How to shape programme aid to reduce transaction costs? Are the transaction costs in a reasonable relation with the overall volume of the project or programme? Are there unexploited opportunities for improvement, such as sector or budget support? How to align reporting and monitoring of aid programmes around recipient standards? Are commitments and disbursements transparent and predictable?

Mutual accountability

The idea of mutual accountability is that partner countries and donors should not only be accountable to their respective domestic constituencies (in particular their parliaments and civil society) but also to each other for the use of resources and for reaching development results. In the Paris Declaration 2005 on Aid Effectiveness the donors and developing countries explicitly pledge to the principle of mutual accountability. Concrete steps are donor related indicators in performance assessment frameworks for budget support.

Evaluations

Have the agreed objectives been achieved? What are the reasons for success and failure? Are there important lessons to be learnt for the future? Is it a joint evaluation with the local stakeholders? Is the evaluation coordinated with other actors working in the same area? In case a reorientation of the programme is required, can it be negotiated among the partners in order to arrive at consensus?