Cameroon became independent in 1961, inheriting Francophone and Anglophone systems, and both languages officially co-exist. The Anglophone part of the country covers the Northwest and Southwest provinces (representing about 25 percent of the population) and the Francophone part comprises the remainder. The country has more than 200 ethnic and linguistic groups. Cameroon experiences from Equatorial to Sahelian climate, and thus benefits from the most diverse ecosystems in the area. Its access to the sea, particularly the port of Douala, is important for its landlocked neighbors, such as Chad and the Central African Republic.

The Government of Cameroon (GoC) plays a major role in the Central Africa subregion. It is part of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) which evolved from a loose customs union to a full-fledged economic and monetary union in 1994 (treaty ratified in 1999). Other members of CEMAC are Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea. Cameroon accounts for half the region’s population, 45 percent of its GDP, and 60 percent of its money supply. The CEMAC countries share a common Central Bank (BEAC) and currency (CFAF).

Cameroon’s population is relatively young (42 percent is less than 14 years and 72 percent less than 30 years old) and heavily concentrated in the urban areas. This adds considerable pressure on social services, infrastructure and the labor market. Moreover, between 1991 and 2002, the rate of HIV/AIDS infection within the sexually active population climbed from 2 percent to 11.8 percent. The incidence of poverty is highest for households headed by farmers (57 percent) and agricultural wage earners (50 percent), who also make up the largest shares of the nationwide poor population (70 percent for farmers and 11 percent for agricultural wage earners). Households in the rural hauts plateaux are twice as likely to be poor as households living in an urban area (other than Douala and Yaounde).

The Government has taken significant steps to develop a long-term vision linked to a strategy. GoC adopted a Poverty Alleviation Strategy Declaration in 1998 following an extensive process of consultation, and developed a long-term vision for 2015 in the context of the preparation of the Déclaration de Stratégie de Lutte contre la Pauvreté (DSRP) - Cameroon’s PRSP. The PRSP was completed in April 2003 and discussed by the Boards of the WB and IMF in July 2003. In July 2004, GoC submitted its First Annual Progress Report (APR) covering PRSP implementation during April 2003-March 2004. In September 2005, the Government submitted its Second APR covering the implementation period of January 2004-March 2005. The overlap between the time periods covered by these two progress reports is intentional and reflects the GoC decision to gradually align the reporting period to the budget year, which now coincides with the calendar year.

Based on extensive consultations and a thorough poverty analysis, the DSRP endorses and is linked to all the MDGs. It articulates a medium-term strategy around seven strategic pillars, namely: 1) promotion of a stable macroeconomic framework; 2) diversification of the economy; 3) development of the private sector as the main engine of growth; 4) development of basic infrastructure and natural resources, as well as protection of the environment; 5) acceleration of regional integration in the framework of the CEMAC; 6) capacity building and strengthening of human resources; and 7) improvement of the institutional framework and fostering of good governance. The DSRP addresses cross-cutting issues such as the environment and gender equality, expressing a commitment to enhance the living conditions of women and their socio-legal status. GoC has developed sector strategies in education, health, rural development, forestry, and gender equality promotion. It has completed a draft industrial development sector strategy and is preparing other sector strategies.

Stakeholder participation in implementation of the strategy is being institutionalized. Since September 2003, a Comité Interministériel chaired personally by the Prime Minister, supervises DSRP implementation. A Comité Technique de Suivi et d’Evaluation du DSRP (CTSE/DSRP), assisted by a Technical Secretariat comprising a Central Coordination Unit and five thematic groups, are responsible for the follow-up of governance, infrastructure, production, indicators, and macroeconomic planning. CTSE issues semi-annual reports on DSRP progress, often based on consultations with stakeholders.

Development Committees (longstanding participatory bodies composed of civil society and private sector representatives at the level of districts, divisions, and provinces) were re-activated in 2003 and are making investment proposals according to community needs. The Government aims at having a significant percentage of projects listed in the investment log (journal des projets) emanate from these committees.

The CTSE/DSRP, Development Committees, and a National Participatory Development Program (drawn up with a view to reducing poverty and promoting sustainable development in rural areas by organizing beneficiaries and building their capacities) constitute the operational mechanism of participatory implementation. In December 2003, the Government also appointed Provincial Development Committees for participatory follow-up of the DSRP. They convened local authorities, administrative officials and other stakeholders, and held four thematic workshops on social infrastructure, production and governance, as well as discussions in plenary sessions.

Stakeholders also participate in a HIPC Consultative and Follow-up Committee, established by the Prime Minister in December 2000, to monitor allocation of HIPC resources. GoC plans to prepare a PRSP progress report covering 2005 as a basis for HIPC Completion Point which Cameroon will reach by 2nd.Quarter of 2006. This is likely to trigger major additional relief through the G8 Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) and the French supplementary initiative – Contracts for Debt Reduction and Development (C2D).

Four development partners (France, Germany, the EC, and the WB) accounted for approximately 82 percent of gross ODA in 2003-04. Fourteen development partners are working together in an informal coordination group, the Comité Multi Bailleurs (CMB), which meets on a bi-monthly basis. Five of them (Canada, EU, France, Germany, and the WB) represent the CMB on the alignment and harmonization agenda at a working group level with GoC. Some of these partners have already aligned their assistance strategies with the DSRP. A group of development partners (“8+6”) including 8 EU ambassadors plus US, Canada, Japan, IMF, UN and WB) meet regularly to discuss relevant country issues (e.g. governance and corruption).

GoC made some efforts to strengthen governance and reduce corruption, e.g. by revising the National Governance Program (PNG) in 2005 and adopting a priority action plan for implementation in 2006. Also, GoC took the initial steps towards participation in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) by announcing this intention during the London Conference in March 2005. A draft Action Plan has been prepared by a multi-stakeholder committee with the assistance of a consultant financed by the EITI Trust Fund. Then it was published in national newspapers for public discussion and comments. Implementation of EITI in Cameroon is expected, once approval of the final version of the Plan has been obtained.

A National Poverty Reduction Network (Réseau National de Réduction de la Pauvreté) - a NGO forum for dialogue and information exchange on poverty reduction activities - is under development and will aim at facilitating a lasting partnership between the Government and civil society.

Since the Paris HLF, GoC (aided by WB) strengthened leadership on partnership, alignment, and the harmonization agenda. GoC is making major efforts to adapt the Paris Declaration to country realities. Development partners (including Canada, the EC, France, Germany, UNDP, and the WB) have agreed on actions, division of labor and a timetable through end 2006 to strengthen ownership, alignment, harmonization and results in some of the priority sectors identified in the DSRP.

The country’s first SWAp (in forestry and environment sector) has been developed. On January 5, 2006, a Code of Conduct of Development Partners in this program-based approach on forestry and environment was signed by 13 international partners in Yaounde, Cameroon. GoC will use its reformed national procurement and financial management procedures in utilizing the IDA and GEF grants for implementing this SWAp.

Development partners launched a Public Financial Management (PFM) donor platform, moving from individual activities to coordinated dialogue and support in line with PEFA framework. GoC has developed an Integrated Public Finance Management System (SIGEFI), which allows for computerized processing and monitoring of public expenditure from commitment to payment. Following a CPAR in January 2003, GoC has completed a reform of public procurement with the support of the EC, France, and the WB. A CFAA is being prepared.

Joint technical working group and political dialogue are emerging at the ministerial and ambassadorial level. There is joint stocktaking of the baseline on the Paris Declaration indicators.

Members of the WB country team developed a Cameroon Development Effectiveness Scorecard (CDES) to foster stronger integration of the ownership, alignment, harmonization and results agenda within the country and better integrate it into the Bank’s work there. Development partners are interested in building on the CDES work, and using it as a joint tool to monitor actions toward implementing the Paris Declaration in Cameroon.

Work on the first independent assessment of development relations and mutual accountability has begun. It is being coordinated by UNDP and led by ODI. It is scheduled to be completed by mid-2006 and is being funded by GoC –Ministry of Economy and Finance (MINEFI), Canada, France, Germany, UNDP, and the WB.

GoC was represented at the Paris HLF in 2005 and was a signatory to the Paris Declaration.

Ethiopia is a Rome Frontier Country and a harmonization pilot for the Strategic Partnership with Africa (SPA), Education For All-Fast Track Initiative (EFA-FTI), and the IMF. The scale of the country’s development challenge is almost unparalleled, with a population of approximately 73 million people and per capita income of roughly US$115 (as of July 2005). In addition, frequent droughts and limited agricultural productivity relative to population pressures have generated an overriding concern about food security. Poverty is pandemic and often linked to environment and natural resource degradation. National household surveys find 44 percent of the people living below the basic needs poverty line. In addition, in 1986, there were only two reported AIDS cases in Ethiopia; by mid-2003 there were 147,000. UNAIDS estimates that in April 2006, 1.5 million persons in the country are living with HIV and AIDS.

During 2000-01, the main ODA partners in Ethiopia were IDA, USA and the EC. In that period, the share of bilateral partners in gross ODA averaged about 42%. Approximately 30% of bilateral ODA was used in the social sectors, of which about 10% went to both the education and health sectors. Program assistance received around 12% of this aid and over 25% was used for emergency aid. The country’s Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction Program (SDPRP) is its PRSP which provides a shared platform to achieve accelerated growth to overcome the pervasive poverty and food insecurity as well as to reach the Millennium Development Goals.

The Government significantly increased poverty-targeted expenditures, including transferring increasing levels of funds to local governments, which have responsibility for basic service delivery. Access to education has increased, the gross enrolment rate rose from 64.4 percent in 2002/03 to 79.2 percent in 2004/05. Access to clean water has risen from 34.1 percent in 2002/03 to 42.2 percent in 2004/05.

The Government of Ethiopia (GoE) launched its harmonization program in June 2002. In December 2002, at the first Consultative Group (CG) meeting since 1996 (and held in-country), GoE and partners agreed on the details of harmonization of development cooperation and improvement in aid modalities. They also agreed to review and monitor the results of their enhanced cooperation. The meeting was co-chaired by GoE and the World Bank.

The country has made significant progress on harmonization. The achievements consist of

• Comprehensive Donor-Government Dialogue Architecture—for improved coordination.
• A common framework toward budget support with common conditionalities and performance indicators, alignment of assistance with SDPRP (Ethiopia’s PRSP) reviews and budget cycle, and increased predictability and volume of donor flows through multi-year donor commitments.
• Institutionalization of the harmonization process through the creation of a Joint Task Force on Harmonization.
• A time bound Harmonization Action Plan (HAP) for harmonization work undertaken at the national, sectoral and project levels, with at each level, efforts (focused around donor cooperation, financial management and accountability, procurement, M&E, and environmental safeguards) involve integration of harmonized procedures as they are developed, reduced transaction costs through joint missions, shared assessments and analytic work, and common requirements and mechanisms.

The Government of Ethiopia (GoE) has prepared a policy matrix augmenting the policy measures to which it has committed, in the SDPRP. This facilitates harmonizing budget support assistance.

SDPRP first Annual Progress Report (APR) review meeting took place on December 1, 2003. Some delays experienced in, for example (i) approving and implementing the financial calendar; (ii) joint government-donor review of budget allocations; and (iii) clarifying an indicator matrix which includes political governance indicators. The second APR on the implementation of SDPRP from August 2003 to July 2004 was officially delivered (delayed) in July 2005.

A new PRSP (SDPRP II) covering the period 2005/06 to 2009/10, is in an advanced stage of preparation. It will aim to accelerate the progress achieved in the original SDPRP, and is expected to have an increased emphasis on infrastructure – especially roads, energy, and irrigation.

Ethiopia reached its Completion Point under the Enhanced HIPC Initiative on April 2, 2004. GoE has developed a debt management strategy with a forward looking set of aid and debt management policies. The country is eligible to benefit from the G8 Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) in which 100 percent cancellation of debt owed to IDA, IMF and AfDB is likely.

The HAP covering the period to 2006, focused on issues such as procurement, public financial management, monitoring and evaluation, and country analytical work.

AfDB, Canada, EC, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, UK, and WB have been providing assistance in the form of budget support. Development Partners (DPs) were preparing to scale up their assistance. For example, donors in the Development Assistance Group (DAG) agreed to a “Joint Declaration on Harmonization and Aid Effectiveness” which set out an accelerated schedule to meet the Paris targets. However, as a result of the post-election events in 2005, donors have undertaken a joint-assessment of political and economic conditions for development. Also, they have suspended direct budget support.

CIDA, DFID and the WB have developed a new approach of “promoting basic services” (PBS) as a solution to the prevailing conditions for development. Tightly monitored aid to more targeted programs (mainly at the regional and district level) is to be delivered in lieu of general budget support. GoE, these three donors and Development Corporation Ireland (DCI) are financing a two year operation.

WB (assisted by other DAG members) has prepared an interim CAS (ICAS) to cover FY06-07. Its overarching objective is to support implementation of a wide ranging program of governance reform and consensus-building efforts among citizens and policy makers.

OECD/DAC Working Party has developed indicators to monitor progress on harmonization and alignment. These indicators were field-tested in fourteen countries (including Ethiopia). This exercise coincided with the annual survey on Budget Support Alignment done by the Strategic Partnership with Africa (SPA). Six Sub-Saharan African countries (Ethiopia, Mozambique, Niger, Senegal, Tanzania, and Zambia) of the eighteen countries in the SPA survey, were also included in the OECD/DAC survey. SPA has worked with DAC to avoid duplication, so the SPA questionnaire was included within the (more comprehensive) DAC questionnaire (part D) for these six countries. A draft report has been prepared.

There are SWAps in education, health, and transport sectors. Building on the positive harmonization experience using single-sector, multi-donor SWAPs, harmonized multi-sector, multi-donor investment support such as the Productive Safety Nets Program and the Public Sector Capacity Building Program (PSCAP) have been developed.

The EC has established pool funding to support the Road Sector Development Program. The EC, USAID and WB are attempting harmonization of food sector policy and programs.

Delegated cooperation agreements in the education and health sectors exist between Norway and Sweden.

Five bilateral donors (Belgium, Ireland, The Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom) have decided to move toward full harmonization with pooling of funds using common procedures for commitments; disbursements; M&E; information sharing; procurement and financial management (including auditing and reporting); and relying to the extent possible on GoE laws, regulations, and procedures as outlined in the education program implementation plan. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between these donors and the government is being finalized. The former program implementation manual is being revised to reflect relevant capacity building efforts, budget process reforms, and procedures governing the handling of pooled funds.

The education sector program includes capacity building such as the Teacher Development Component, which is also supported by donors. The Public Service Delivery Capacity Development Program (PSCAP), a multi-sector, multidonor program designed to meet the capacity building needs of implementing a poverty reduction strategy in a decentralize public service delivery structure, is making progress.

ILO, UNAIDS, USAID, World Bank Institute (WBI) and the Ethiopian Business Coalition Against AIDS (EBCA) fund a capacity development program developed by EBCA and the WBI, and launched in December 2004. The series of localized tools and services developed to help these firms include tailored corporate HIV/AIDS policies, and hands-on help to implement workplace and community outreach programs.

The Country Financial Accountability Assessment (CFAA), undertaken as a multidonor product (EC, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, UK and WB), has been completed in 2003. Focus is now on capacity building to support the CFAA outcomes in an integrated CPAR/CFAA action plan.

A Public Expenditure Review (PER) - joint product of DFID, GTZ, Ireland, UNFPA, WB, and WHO - was completed in 2004.

A Country Economic Memorandum (CEM) on Growth and Governance is in an advanced preparatory stage.

In the area of environmental safeguards, the World Bank and DFID, in close collaboration with UNDP and the donors’ technical group on environment, are carrying out an assessment of environmental legislation.

In addition, the World Bank is providing support for activities at the project level, namely for common financial reporting system; standard bidding document for goods, civil works and consultants; common thresholds for post and prior reviews in co-financed projects, as well as common thresholds for national competitive bidding (NCB) and international competitive bidding.

The Development Gateway (DG) in partnership with the WB, OECD and UNDP developed the Aid Management Platform (AMP), a web-based e-government tool designed to assist with aid management, coordination and reporting capabilities of developing country governments and their donors. In May 2005, the first two modules of AMP (focusing on aid tracking and reporting) were successfully piloted in Ethiopia with the assistance of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED). Licensing arrangements support sustainable capacity-building. More than 30 staff members at MoFED have been trained on the system. DG is actively working with MoFED, DAG, UNDP and WB on the next phase which includes modules for a government/donor planning calendar, scenario-builder, and knowledge management tool.

The first SPA harmonization mission to Ethiopia was in October 2002. The mission was conducted jointly with the PRSP learning group of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). A follow-up mission was held in Nov./Dec. 2003.

The annual SPA Plenary Meeting was held on January 19-20, 2005 in South Africa. Working Groups and other technical meetings were held on January 16-18, scheduled sequentially. For example, the Budget Support Working Group (co-chaired by EC and DFID) and the Sector Support Working Group (co-chaired by Germany and the US).

Ethiopia was represented at the AfDB and WB sponsored Africa Regional Workshop on Harmonization and Alignment for Development Effectiveness and Managing for Results which was hosted by the Government of Tanzania in Dar-es-Salaam on November 9-11, 2004. The workshop prepared participants for the Second High-Level Forum (HLF-2) on Harmonization and Alignment in Paris, Feb. 28-March 2, 2005.

GoE participated in the Paris HLF and was a signatory to the “Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness” of March 2005.

Donor coordination efforts are extensive in Ghana. Key bilateral donors include Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, the UK, and the US. Multilateral donors include African Development Bank, EC, FAO/IFAD, UNDP, UNICEF, WHO and The World Bank (WB). In 2000-01, IDA, UK and Japan were the major donors of gross ODA. During this period, the bilateral share of gross ODA was 55% with program assistance accounting for about 25 percent. The social sectors received approximately 45% of bilateral ODA; of which 7 percent went to the education sector and about 18 percent was spent in the health sector.

Following the 1997 Consultative Group (CG) meeting, the Government of Ghana (GoG) set up the "Mini CG," which meets quarterly. This local entity follows up on CG decisions, reviews the country's economic situation, and addresses key issues in donor coordination. Partner groups perform similar functions for individual sectors, including health, education, roads, public finance management, community water supplies, governance, and decentralization. The recent development of sector programs in roads, agriculture, basic education, and health has enhanced donor coordination.

Ghana is moving from using traditional development planning, incremental budgeting and arbitration, and annual resource allocation processes to using a more structured and explicit poverty-focused planning system, policy-based budgeting, and rational resource allocation over a three-year period. A more rational planning approach, more closely linking activities and budget to policy outcomes, has been adopted in the education and health sectors.

The harmonization program is in place. The GoG and nine donors (AfDB, Canada, Denmark, Germany, EC, Netherlands, Switzerland, UK and WB) are: (a) developing budget-support mechanisms with individual donors leading in key areas, (b) integrating annual policy, planning implementation and review process on the basis of the PRS and (c) streamlining and aligning the PRSC with multi-donor budget support. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for a joint approach to budgetary and balance of payment support was signed (June 30, 2003) between the Government and these partners.

Under the health sector SWAp, donors are continuing joint annual reviews, processes, and financial reporting under Common Management Arrangements. DFID, Danida, EC, the Netherlands, Nordic Development Fund and the World Bank are pooling part of their funds into a Common Health Account managed by the Ministry of Health in parallel with the GoG budget. The EC also provides macro budget aid to the health sector.

The Government’s 2003 Annual Progress Report (APR) of Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS), a review of the first year implementation, was prepared recently.

A joint Country Procurement Assessment Report (CPAR) with AfDB, DFID, ILO, OECD and WB, was finalized in 2002. A joint Country Financial Accountability Assessment (CFAA) up-date (CIDA, DFID, WB) planned for 2003, is in progress.

Four of five Poverty and Social Impact Analysis (PSIA) studies commissioned by the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) are completed.

Ghana is one of the World Bank's pilots for Country Environmental Analysis (CEA) and in 2004, the country was endorsed under the Education For All Fast Track Initiative (EFA-FTI).

The Ghana EFA-FTI program aims to (i) improve access to and participation in education; (ii) improve health and sanitation in schools; (iii) improve quality of education; (iv) promote educational opportunities for girls and (v) design programs aimed at prevention and management of HIV/AIDS.

In 2005, $8 million was allocated to Ghana from the Catalytic Fund. The grant agreement was signed on February 17, 2005. The country has a residual financing gap of about $15 million per year.

The Netherlands is exploring a silent partnership with DFID to fill the gap, and the EC has also allocated increased budget support.

GoG participated in the Paris HLF and was a signatory to the “Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness” of March 2005.