AusAID / Aid issues / Effective governance

Strategic goals

Effective governance programs

Other information

Effective governance

Contact //Tel: +61 2 6178 4000
Fax: +61 2 6178 4880 // Post: GPO Box 887, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia

Overview
See our results
Funding
Research

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How we are helping

Our funding for 2011/12

$943.3 million

Region	Spend (%)
Total	100
Papua New Guinea and Pacific Island countries	45
East Asia	27
South and West Asia	9
Africa and the Middle East	8
Latin America and the Caribbean	1
Rest of the world and unallocated	10

The achievement of the Millennium Development Goals is dependent on the effectiveness of institutions of governance, including parliaments, ministries or departments of government, traditional leadership groups, and civil society organisations.

Without effective governance, the chances for development, growth and poverty reduction are compromised. This means that basic services such as education and maternal health are not delivered effectively, and poor and marginalised people often miss out.

Since 2010 we have been increasing expenditure on governance. In 2010–11 the total ODA for governance was $792.5 million, and in 2011–12 this figure increased to $943.3 million. Key achievements in recent years include:

supporting the Ministry of Finance in Timor-Leste to improve its systems for government spending
increasing access to justice for victims of violence against women in PNG
strengthening the electoral cycle process in Solomon Islands leading to the 2010 elections being declared ‘free and fair’ by international observers.

Following the Government’s announcement on 17 December 2012 to reprioritise resources within the aid budget, the 2012–13 budget estimate for the Governance program was reduced by $37.6 million to approximately $885.9 million. The new budget estimate for governance reflects changes to global programs, including in election support and political governance, and in country programs, including deferral of leadership and civil society programs into future financial years.

In 2012–13, Australia will continue to support partner governments in their efforts to deliver basic services, through capable and well-functioning state institutions.

The Australian aid program’s support for effective governance falls into three pillars:

Delivering better services through improved government efficiency and effectiveness, and more accountable, open and responsive governments.
Improved security and enhanced justice.
Enhanced human rights.

Read more about the Australian aid program's Effective Governance Strategy.

Read more about our support for effective governance in the following countries:

Effective governance results

Under the Comprehensive Aid Policy Framework, Australia has committed to achieving the following results by 2015-16:

Communities will have improved safety with 14,000 law and justice officials trained.
Partner governments will become more effective at providing basic services to the poor with:
- 23 countries supported to improve their public financial management
- 17,000 public servants trained, with at least 25 per cent of these women
- 680 civil society organisations supported to track service provision.

Progress against these results will be tracked and reported on an annual basis.

The aid program has already achieved results in delivering better services, improving security and justice, and enhancing human rights. For examples of our governance results, see the pages on our bilateral programs:

Or visit the pages for our global and regional governance programs.

Our funding for 2011/12

$943.3 million

Region	Spend (million)
Total	943.3
Papua New Guinea and Pacific Island countries	429.3
East Asia	250.2
South and West Asia	85.0
Africa and the Middle East	74.3
Latin America and the Caribbean	8.7
Rest of the world and unallocated	95.8

Research overview

As part of AusAID’s research program, we fund research into emerging areas of governance such as how informal institutions can promote policy change in developing countries. Highlights of this AusAID-funded research include:

Developmental Leadership Program

Australia supports innovative research and policy work on governance through its Developmental Leadership Program. This program is looking at the central role of leadership and coalitions in promoting institutional and policy reforms across the public, private and civil society sectors in developing countries. This will help inform policy and strategic approaches for Australian government and other development partners by providing a framework for understanding the underlying dynamics of development assistance.

Further details are available on the Developmental Leadership Program’s homepage [external link].

Partnership with the World Bank’s Justice for the Poor

One of Australia’s major development research partnerships is with the World Bank’s Justice for the Poor program. This research aims to make development projects more effective and equitable, and to manage the risk of conflict between stakeholders. Australia has given support to expand Justice for the Poor’s research in Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste.

Australian funding helped Justice for the Poor to establish Jastis Blong Evriwan [external link] in Vanuatu. Read more about this initiative on the Vanuatu effective governance page.

Further details are available on the World Bank’s Justice for the Poor [external link] website.

Why we give aid

Governance is unique in its ability to have a far-reaching impact on the full spectrum of development, as outlined in the Australian aid program's Effective Governance Strategy. The World Bank’s 2011 World Development Report [external link] highlights the importance of governance to breaking the cycle of poverty and violence suffered by the world’s poorest countries. Weak governance, poverty and violence are interlinked—and a country with these challenges is likely to have a negative impact on the welfare of others in its region.

Find out more about why we support effective governance

How we give aid

We work with a wide range of partners, including various Australian Government agencies and multilateral, bilateral and civil society organisations.

Find out how we support effective governance

Progress Against MDGs

There is no Millennium Development Goal specifically for governance. However, good governance is important to achieving all the Millennium Development Goals.

Volunteers

Australian Volunteers for International Development

Australia Awards

Australia Awards in governance

Collaboration opportunities

Successful Human Rights Grants Scheme projects for 2012–13

Last reviewed: 22 February, 2013