1. KEEPING A DEVELOPMENT FOCUS: THE CHALLENGES IN ENSURING POLICY COHERENCE FOR DEVELOPMENT: A UGANDA’S PERSPECTIVE
Presented by:
Pius Bigirimana, Permanent Secretary
Office of The Prime Minister, Kampala, Uganda
  During the High Level Symposium of
The 2010 Development Cooperation Forum (DCF)
Held in Helsinki, Finland
3rd- 4th June, 2010

2. Outline of the Presentation
The role of Development Partners in ensuring Policy coherence for development
Experience in strengthening the policy coherence agenda
Experience in ensuring a coherent use of Aid and other development financing

3. Increasing flexibility and predictability of aid levels
The role of Development Partners in ensuring Policy coherence for development
Reducing complexity and transaction costs in the delivery of Overseas Development Assistance (ODA)
Increasing flexibility and predictability of aid levels
Respect for Country systems and Structures
Ensuring more consistency and provision of longer-term commitments

4. Experience in strengthening the policy coherence agenda
There have been many challenges with donor coordination (especially with alignment with Government systems and processes and of harmony between DPs)
A Joint Budget Support Framework (JBSF) and the Joint Assessment Frame work (JAF) established
Considerations for joint financing mechanisms only (e.g. budget support, pooled funding, delegated cooperation etc.) or through multilateral agencies is underway
Capacity building in providing adequate leadership on development investing in human resources and institutions making greater use of country systems and increasing the predictability of aid flows.
This includes only development partners reporting aid to the OECD DAC and thus excludes emerging donors such as China, India and other countries. Note that the number of agencies administering aid may well be higher, as some countries disburse aid through more than one agency.

5. In Uganda in particular, measures to enhance better use of resources;
Strengthening local accountability mechanisms
Introduction of performance contracts
Strengthening Government Performance Assessment including performance on JAF targets
Mutual Accountability with Development Partners to be enhanced by developing accountability mechanisms

6. Development of a Partnership Policy
Purpose is to guide partnerships between Uganda and its partners on aid and beyond aid issues.
Translates the commitments in the Paris Declaration Principles and Accra Agenda for Action into actions
Policy development was participatory and included a critical analysis of the past, the approaches for managing partnerships, funding modalities and institutional arrangements for aid management and coordination.
Special focus on critical “Beyond Aid” issues with a discussion on how they influence or are influenced by the aid architecture. In the Uganda’s case, the most significant beyond aid issues are; Trade, Technology, Climate change, Agriculture, Regional Integration, Debt relief and debt sustainability, Migration and Remittances and so on.

7. Experience in ensuring a coherent use of Aid and other development financing
Started with PEAP Partnership Principles in considering the experience from when Uganda pursued the Poverty Eradication Strategy
Consistent with the Paris Declaration Principles on Aid Effectiveness and the Accra Agenda for Action
Government’s national coordination mechanism and structures have been strengthened and redefined to involve DPS and stakeholders
Considerations are underway on relating with DPs on ODA
Efforts being developed on the principles to apply on mutual accountability in aid partnership agreements
However, despite these agreements, progress in strengthening this partnership with DPs has not advanced as fast as the Government and many DPs expected.

8. End pf Presentation
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