Photo: Sylvia Yang/ Unsplash
The Expert Group for Aid Studies (EBA) recently published a new report, authored by Anna Sjöberg Tibblin and Lennart Wohlgemuth, on the challenges of applying the principles of development effectiveness.
The working paper examines Sweden’s approach to development effectiveness in its “multi-bi” aid—bilateral assistance provided through multilateral organizations. Development effectiveness, grounded in principles like local ownership, focus on results, inclusive partnerships, transparency, and mutual accountability, is essential for ensuring sustainable impact in international aid efforts. These principles, established under the Global Partnership for Development Effectiveness, guide the actions of countries like Sweden in working collaboratively to achieve meaningful, long-term results.
The paper reveals that Sweden’s multi-bi aid has grown significantly in recent years as a portion of its overall bilateral aid. However, challenges remain in aligning this aid with the effectiveness principles when working with multilateral organizations on the ground. In particular, there is a gap between the effectiveness agenda’s growing focus on results and transparency and the Swedish aid policies and directives on how to deal with development effectiveness in relation to the multilateral organizations. This disconnect may reduce the effectiveness of Swedish aid efforts.
The report suggests several steps to address these challenges: strengthening dialogue with multilateral organizations to reinforce the importance of effectiveness principles, clarifying expectations within agreements, and encouraging organizations to play a more active role in coordinating donors. Additionally, it recommends supporting domestic institutions to promote local ownership and ensuring systematic follow-up on the outcomes of Sweden’s multi-bi contributions. These actions are seen as essential to aligning aid practices more closely with development effectiveness goals.
