The PRS approach and the Paris agenda: Experiences in Bolivia, Honduras and Nicaragua

Abstract The Paris Declaration on aid effectiveness stipulates that broadly owned and results oriented national plans will be the basis for establishing national ownership and leadership of the aid process and for improving alignment and harmonization. In this sense, there is a close link between the Poverty Reduction Strategy approach and the Paris Agenda, both of which form part of the new aid paradigm that started around the year 2000. This paper assesses the actual progress in the implementation of the new aid paradigm in three Latin American countries: Bolivia, Honduras and Nicaragua. The results are disappointing. Frequent government changes and the composition of the donor group in the countries are partially responsible for the disappointing results, but the main conclusion is that the new aid paradigm is based on unrealistic expectations about the role that national poverty reduction or development plans can play in promoting the principles of the Paris Agenda.