Report: Australian Multilateral Assessment (AMA)
Australian Government
March 2012

   AusAid released the Australian Multilateral Assessment (AMA), an analyses of the effectiveness of 42 multilateral organisations, including United Nations agencies and global and regional development banks funded through the Australian aid program. Around 40 per cent of Australia’s aid budget is currently delivered through multilateral organisations. The AMA provides information that the Australian Government will use to guide future decisions on funding and to ensure that it delivers development results for the world’s poorest people. The AMA found that for 29 of the 42 organisations assessed, the Australian Government “could have a high degree of confidence that increases in funding represent value for money.”

Other key findings were:
– coordination is improving across the multilateral system but more is needed

– the UN ‘Delivering as One’ approach should become the norm

– joint assessments of multilateral effectiveness can be strengthened

– 15 of the 42 organisations assessed have reform efforts underway

– organisations are investing heavily in their capacity to measure and report on results

– in some cases more focus is needed on ‘value for money’ and cost effectiveness varies at country and regional levels

This is the first time the Australian aid program has undertaken such a comprehensive assessment of multilateral funding. The individual reports include analysis of the GAVI Alliance, The Global Fund, UNAIDS, UNICEF, WHO, and the World Bank, among others: http://www.ausaid.gov.au/publications/pubout.cfm?ID=7373_9810_453_4167_7175&Type=

http://www.ausaid.gov.au/hottopics/topic.cfm?ID=864_3564_3247_5781_2569&From=HT