Southern Voices for Change in the International Aid Architecture
We are seeing increasing rates of change in the international aid system, a loose aggregation of 90+ official agencies, but expect even more. Change stems, among other factors, from: (1) concerted action among donors and recipients, as committed at Monterrey, in the PRSP framework and in the Rome harmonisation agenda; (2) disjointed experimentation, such as the expansion of global funds, of the US Millennium Challenge Corporation and of the share of grants in IDA; and (3) competitive pressures linked to new funding pools and different donor objectives.

The voices of aid recipients in general, and Southern CSOs in particular, in shaping such trends are muted, if heard at all. The main international discussion fora are heavily biased towards donor views (the DAC and EU), Northern shareholder representation (the IFIs), and a predominantly governmental perspective (the above plus the UN). Policy-relevant information, even within donor countries, is often poorly analysed and communicated.

An ODI-facilitated debate engaging Southern CSO actors on the desirable future structure, instruments and major processes of international aid, well fits the 2005 international agenda window, in which the UK will have a high profile as G8 and EU chair and sponsor of the Africa Commission. This project will evolve in two Phases (A and B), each described in detail below.

PHASE A: Identifying Southern views and perspectives on the international aid architecture and bringing them together to enable the exchange of ideas and proposals. This will include:

• Stage 1: Issues reviews for each of the regions involved in the project (Africa, Asia, and Latin America), culminating in a scoping paper
  
• Stage 2: Review' process and jointly published scoping paper
  
• Stage 3: Regional workshops to discuss the scoping paper

PHASE B: Giving 'voice' to Southern views and perspectives for change in the international aid architecture - dissemination, communication, and learning. This will include:

• Stage 4 Synthesis Report and Website
  
• Stage 5 Evaluation and learning

For further information see the Forum on the Future of Aid (FFA) website.

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