"Harmonization" and "alignment" have been key catch-phrases in the international aid community for quite some time, gaining particular salience in 2005 with the signing of the Paris Declaration. The main idea is that multilateral and bilateral donors will somehow align their operational policies, procedures and practices with existing poverty reduction strategies (or other development frameworks) in recipient countries, thereby avoiding unnecessary overlaps and rendering aid overall more effective. This push for harmonization is especially pronounced with respect to the MDGs.
Yet in the run-up to the 2008 Third High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness it seems that little progress has been made towards such alignment, at least among the major multilateral aid organizations. In today's Vox column OECD's Helmut Reisen presents the following table:
Table 1 Unclear institutional assignment to the MDGs
| Selected multilaterals working on the Millennium Development Goals | ||
| MDG / Thematic area | Main multilaterals | Other multilaterals with a role |
| MDG1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger | UNDP, World Bank, AfDB, AsDB, IFAD, EC, FAO, WFP | CGIAR, IADB |
| MDG 2: Achieve universal primary education | World Bank, UNICEF, UNESCO | UNFPA, UNRWA |
| MDG 3: Promote gender equality and empower women | UNDP, World Bank, UNIFEM, UNICEF | UNFPA |
| MDG 4: Reduce child mortality | WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF | World Bank, WFP, UNRWA |
| MDG 5: Improve maternal health | WHO, UNFPA | World Bank, WFP |
| MDG 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases | UNAIDS, World Bank, WHO, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF | UNIFEM |
| MDG 7: Ensure environmental sustainability | UN Habitat, World Bank, AsDB, UNDP | CGIAR, UNIDO |
| MDG 8: Develop a global partnership for development | World Bank, EU, UNDP, UNIDO, ILO, UNCTAD | UNDP |
| Human rights | OHCHR | UNIFEM |
| Conflicts and humanitarian emergencies | UNCHR, OCHA, ECHO, WFP, UNICEF, WHO | UNDP |
Source: OECD Development Centre, "Financing Development: Whose Ownership?", Paris, 2008, Chapter 2.
As Jonathan Dingel writes: "When everyone is responsible, no one is."