Effectiveness of ODA and Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), 2000 – 2008

Detailed description of project Back

The EU has supported the South African government through various programmes to improve the management and coordination of ODA in the country. Lessons learnt during the implementation of these programmes recommended a consolidated and well-coordinated intervention which resulted in the launch of a programme entitled “Official Development Assistance Programme in support of effective delivery of government initiatives (ODA-P).

The Financing Agreement of the Decentralised Cooperation Programme entered into force on 19th August 2005 and lasts until at 31 March 2012. The overall objective of the programme is to contribute towards the enhanced capacity development in promoting economic development, good governance, social progress and rising living standards in line with the priorities of the South African government. While the programme purpose is to enhance efficient, effective and sustainable management of ODA which will act as catalyst for better management in development and impact strategic development priorities of SA. The programme has five Key Result Areas (KRAs) which are as follows:

• Leveraging the ODA programme to enhance outcome orientated delivery systems in the SA government;
• A Study Fund Facility Established and Implemented;
• Promote efficient and effective ODA management and co-ordination;
• Role of SA in global ODA debates and discussions enhanced;
• Sound Knowledge Management practices within the ODA environment enhanced and sustained.

The overall objective of the assignment is to conduct an assessment of the effectiveness of ODA during the period 2000-2008 in relation to South Africa’s own development objectives as outlined in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF).

Type of services provided

The services are provided by a team of 3 experts: Team Leader, 2 Evaluation experts. Core services include:

• Conduct an analytical assessment of how ODA has been aligned or integrated into the budgetary planning process and the quality of reporting;
• Analyse the reporting of ODA in the financial management system of South Africa including the Estimates of National Expenditure (ENE) and Departmental reports and other reporting mechanisms including the DCIS and the OECD DAC;
• Examine the modality of funding ODA that has been predominantly used by development partners and critically assess the effectiveness and the lessons learnt over the period 2000 to 2008. In particular establish the split between budget or sector support approach and activity based project financing and investigate the trend on a yearly basis and illustrate the findings graphically;
• Establish progress made by the country in the implementation of the Paris Declaration.