MULTI-DONOR BUDGET SUPPORT (MDBS) IN GHANA

Development Acronyms and Definitions

Aid Effectiveness Agenda: the framework for increasing the benefits of development aid and reducing the burden of aid for recipient countries, based on the following principles:

    Ownership - Recipient countries set their own strategies for poverty reduction, improve their institutions and tackle corruption.

     Alignment - Development Partners align behind these objectives and use local systems.

     Harmonization - Development Partners coordinate, simplify procedures and share information to avoid duplication.

     Results - Recipient countries and Development Partners pay increased attention to development results and results get measured.

     Mutual Accountability - Recipient countries and Development Partners are both accountable for development results.

Annual Progress Report (APR) : a document produced by the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) that assesses progress on the implementation of the national medium-term development plan (i.e. GSGDA) in a given year, and the contribution of the budget to it. The APR is one of key reference documents for the holistic assessment at the MDBS annual review.

Consultative Group (CG): the principal high-level forum between the Government of Ghana and its Development Partners. The meetings of this forum typically focus on the results, achievements and challenges of Ghana’s development and poverty reduction initiatives and also the resources that will be needed to invest in these areas.

Cross-Cutting issues: for the purposes of the MDBS Annual Review, these are issues that are not confined to just one sector and /or have significant macroeconomic and budgetary implications. Introduced at the 2010 MDBS Annual Review, the discussion of cross-cutting issues enriches policy dialogue at the Review as it provides a forum for issues that are encountered at the sector working group level to be discussed at a higher-level from a cross-sectoral perspective.

Domestic Accountability: the responsibility and answerability of the Government of Ghana to its citizens for its decisions and actions, including the use of public resources, the provision of public services and the implementation of commitments to deliver development results.

Development Partner (DP): an aid agency, or donor organization, or country.

Framework Memorandum (FM): a legal document that sets out the guiding principles and requirements for implementing the MDBS instrument signed by both Development Partners and the Government of Ghana.