Even as the Philippine government and the World Bank (WB), entered into a new agreement to review operations and mechanisms in implementing development programs as an attempt to enhance the current set of “readiness filters” in the programming of development programs and projects, IBON databank said . donor governments have failed not only to improve the quality of aid but also even to make progress towards delivering committed amounts.
BY NOEL SALES BARCELONA
Bulatlat
Vol. VIII, No. 31, September 7-13, 2008
The Philippine government and the World Bank (WB), entered into a new agreement to review operations and mechanisms in implementing development programs as an attempt to enhance the current set of “readiness filters” in the programming of development programs and projects. The agreement is aimed at optimizing the use of official development assistance (ODA).
The agreement-signing was considered as one of the highlights of the Joint Philippines-World Bank Portfolio Review Wrap-Up held Aug. 27 at the Discovery Suites at the Ortigas Center, Pasig City. The portfolio review wrap-up was called after National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) chief Ralph G. Recto told government agencies to target a full disbursement rate to improve the efficiency of fund use for government programs and projects.
Representatives from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Health (DoH), Department of Justice (DoJ), Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), LGU Guarantee Corporation (LGUGC), Land Bank, and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) participated in the portfolio warp-up, according to the WB.
The wrap-up is part of the efforts led by NEDA, in coordination with Asian Development Bank (ADB), Japan Bank for International Development (JBIC) and WB, which are aimed at reviewing the performance of the Philippine government’s ODA portfolios in order to identify measures that would improve the country’s absorptive capacity and to speed up the implementation of development programs and projects.
Most of the projects mentioned were funded by these three international agencies, according to the WB statement.
Among the “readiness filters” considered during the review wrap-up are institutional readiness of the proponent agency, including availability of technical skills within the agency and budget space to accommodate project requirements; strong ownership within the proponent agency as manifested by the presence of a strong champion within the organization, clear support from oversight agencies, clear involvement from other agencies, and participatory processes with project beneficiaries; and robust risk analysis.
GRP, partner agencies still positive on meeting targets
The Philippine government is still positive about the success of the joint endeavor of the WB, JBIC, ADB and the NEDA to harmonize the business process between funding institutions and government agencies to further enhance aid effectiveness and reduce transactions costs.
The Philippine-WB portfolio review covered 130 active ODA loan-funded program and projects from January 1 to December 2007 and 89 ODA grant-assisted projects involving 37 agencies, including 23 national government agencies, 10 government-owned and controlled corporations, three financial government institutions, and one local government unit, NEDA Deputy Director-General for Investment Programming Rolando G. Tungpalan said in a statement.
He also said that the review noted substantial improvements in the disbursement of ODA funds, reaching 86 percent in 2007 as compared to 80 percent in 2006.
He said that this improvement in disbursement should help alleviate poverty and enhance delivery of social services.
“The improvement is largely due to the efforts of the government to enhance aid effectiveness through measures like better interagency coordination and harmonization of business processes,” said Tungapalan.
Ready to go projects
He also said that it is important that Philippine government has projects “ready to go” even before submitting these to the Investment and Coordinating Committee (ICC).
Meanwhile, Maryse Gautier, WB portfolio and operations manager and deputy country director, said that the institution welcomes the government’s proposal to set up these readiness filters at an early stage of project development.
“These filters can still be fine-tuned to include contribution to poverty reduction, support for inclusive growth, positive impact on fiscal stability, and adequate focus on good governance. They will also help identify priorities for our Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) currently under preparation,” said Gautier.
Furthermore, other measures considered are better coordination and dialogue with agencies, involvement of local government units especially in resolving constraints like right-of-way issues, rationalization of the government bureaucracy, and capacity building among government agency staff.
In addition, NEDA Project Monitoring Staff Director Roderick M. Planta, who leads the government-driven portfolio review, reaffirmed the commitment to push for the set of measures to ensure not only implementation efficiency but also the attainment of development objectives.
“The World Bank is very much willing to support all these measures, including capacity building programs to help the country improve efficiency in the use of funds for programs and projects that would hasten economic growth and development,” Gautier added.
ODA does not improve lives
However, IBON said that donor governments have failed not only to improve the quality of aid but also even to make progress towards delivering committed amounts.
On its official website, IBON said that as it is, donors avoided addressing key development issues in the Accra Action Agenda (AAA) adopted at the 3rd High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness organized by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), adding that they are also US$30 billion short of meeting aggregate programmed commitments for 2010.
“These underscore the limits of the global aid regime in addressing underdevelopment in the Third World,” the IBON statement read.
IBON pointed out that there are over two billion people worldwide living in deep poverty, a billion lacking even just access to safe drinking water, more than two billion lacking access to proper sanitation and some 800 million adults unable to read nor write.
“This situation is because people by and large have no sovereignty and control over their socioeconomic policies. The “free market” policy conditionalities attached to aid for instance have greatly contributed to the problem,” IBON added.
Commitments are off track
OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) statistics show that donors are off track at meeting declared commitments to scale up aid and that targets set for 2010 will not be met unless dramatic increases are forthcoming, explains IBON.
Net ODA flows from the 22 member countries of the OECD-DAC, the world’s major donors, fell for the second straight year in 2007 when they provided just US$104 billion in aid, IBON said.
IBON explained that the said amount is only 0.28 percent of their collective gross national income (GNI) compared to the US$104.4 billion or 0.31 percent of their GNI in 2006, adding that it is also an 8.4-percent drop in real terms from the year before.
The think-tank also revealed that the said amount is also just 56 percent of the total ODA commitment of 0.50 percent of their GNI by 2010.
“Donor countries will have to double their efforts in the next three years to make up for the shortfall—or an unprecedented 25 percent increase in ODA yearly in order to reach their commitment by 2010,” IBON declared.
Meanwhile, IBON also stated that the character of the global aid system will remain questionable as long as aid is of poor and even destructive quality and as long as the amounts provided are so limited. Fundamental reforms are needed if aid and the global aid regime are to cease being instruments of big power intervention and control, and if they are to deliver on the development promises so often made. Bulatlat
