Sri Lanka become party to yet another international declaration on Wednesday – this time on the effective use of foreign aid. The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness agrees to take "far reaching and monitorable action" to manage aid.
"We, Ministers of developed and developing countries responsible for promoting development and Heads of multilateral and bilateral development institutions, meeting in Paris on 2 March 2005, resolve to take far-reaching and monitorable actions to reform the ways we deliver and manage aid as we look ahead to the UN five-year review of the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) later this year," says the declaration.
Developing and developed countries agree that while it will take a lot for aid to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, aid effectiveness must also improve significantly at the receiving end, for any improvements.
"We recognise that while the volumes of aid and other development resources must increase to achieve