At their meeting on 2nd March 2005 in Paris, ministers representing industrialised and developing countries and the heads of multilateral and bilateral development agencies announced their determination to reform how development cooperation is conducted. In the ‘Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness’ they laid out the following principles:
- Ownership
Developing countries set their own strategies for poverty reduction, improve their institutions and tackle corruption. - Alignment
Donor countries align behind these objectives and use local systems. - Harmonisation
Donor countries coordinate, simplify procedures and share information to avoid duplication. - Results
Developing countries and donors shift focus to development results and results get measured. - Mutual accountability
Donors and partners are accountable for development results.