Who’s in the Driver’s Seat? Moving from Principle to Practice: ‘Ownership’ in Aid Coordination: The Case of the Philippines Development Forum (PDF)

In light of the current discussions towards increasing the effectiveness of aid, this paper looks into the practice of the principle of ownership under the 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness with focus on commitments that relate to aid coordination i.e., partner countries to ‘lead in co-ordinating aid at all levels in conjunction with other development resources in dialogue with donors and encouraging the participation of civil society and the private sector’ and donors to ‘respect partner country leadership and help strengthen their capacity to exercise it’ (High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness 2005). This will be done through a case study of the Philippines Development Forum (PDF), a mechanism for policy dialogue on the Philippines’ development agenda. The PDF provides an interesting case as a policy dialogue evolving from the Consultative Group (CG) mechanism, one of the most prominent of aid coordination arrangement at the country level. The role of the PDF actors is analyzed in relation to realizing the abovementioned commitments.