Health has received a renewed prominence in the context of the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) and ways to accelerate progress are receiving great political attention.

At the international level the High Level Forum in Rome in 2003 produced the “Rome Declaration on Harmonisation” and then the “Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness” in 2005. The five principles outlined in Paris are ownership, alignment, harmonisation, managing for results and mutual accountability. “Alignment” offers a means to the end of strengthening partner country processes; the call for “harmonisation” goes beyond mere donor coordination. It requires donors to simplify their procedures, to invest their resources in a complementary fashion and to agree to a division of labour in accordance with their “comparative advantages”. All stakeholders are asked to agree upon common goals, performance indicators, benchmarking systems and reporting mechanisms and both partner countries and donors are called to account for the outcomes of interventions.

Switzerland has taken up the challenge of responding to the Paris Declaration and closer cooperation between seco and SDC is now a reality, with the consultation between these agencies and civil society organisations now also further strengthened.

Resources

• Rome Declaration on Harmonisation, 2003
• Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, 2005
• Incentives for harmonisation and alignment in aid agencies. Overseas Development Institute, London, 2005
• From Funding to Action: Strengthening Healthcare Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa. GHI whitepaper
• Global initiatives and public-private partnerships. Eldis Health Systems Resource Guide
• The Swiss Tropical Institute (STI) hosted an international health symposium on Global Health Initiatives: Global Health Initiatives: Magic Pills?