The Afghan Government and the International Community reaffirm their partnership in the economic growth and development

of Afghanistan
through a process of mutual accountability in achieving mutually decided goals as laid out in this document, hereafter the Tokyo Framework.
The International Communitys ability to sustain support for Afghanistan depends upon the Afghan Government delivering on its commitments
described in the Tokyo Framework. This document establishes an approach based on mutual commitments of the Afghan Government and the
International Community to help Afghanistan achieve its development and governance goals based on the International Communitys
commitments in the Tokyo Framework. The Tokyo Framework establishes a mechanism to monitor and review commitments on a regular basis.
Good governance is essential for strong and sustainable economic development and improved livelihoods of the Afghan people. Recognizing
this fact, this accountability framework concretizes the mutual commitments decided in the Kabul Process and reaffirmed at the Bonn
Conference by stipulating shared development and governance goals and a mechanism as described in this document to hold parties
accountable for achieving them. The goals are consistent with the Afghan Governments economic and development strategy presented in
Towards Self-Reliance. At the December 2011 Bonn Conference, the International Community affirmed the special status of Afghanistan to
receive donor assistance from Transition through Transformation in greater measure than similarly situated nations. The Afghan Government and
the International Community are bound by their citizens expectations for the effective and transparent stewardship of resources. The Afghan
Government reaffirms its solemn commitment to strengthen governance, grounded in human rights, the rule of law, and adherence to the
Afghan Constitution, and holds it as integral to sustained economic growth and development. Working in partnership with the International
Community, the Afghan Government seeks sustained development, economic growth and fiscal sustainability with declining reliance on donor
financing as articulated in Towards Self-Reliance. To fulfill this vision, the Afghan Government has put together the National Priority Programs
(NPPs), and, in consultation with International Community, is developing an Aid Management Policy to be endorsed by the Joint Coordination
and Monitoring Board (JCMB) by December 2012 to ensure optimal execution and effectiveness of international assistance aligned with national
priorities. As Afghanistan enters the Transformation Decade, progress from the past decade in areas that underpin sustained economic growth
and development,
especially
for women and girls, such as education, health and other basic services, as well as strengthened respect for human
AID MANAGEMENT
DIRECTORATE
rights, must continue. Challenges such as vulnerability to natural disasters and humanitarian needs must also be addressed jointly in an effective
and appropriate manner in Transition and the Transformation Decade. Successful transition will lead to a decade of Transformation where
Afghanistan will build on the benefits of Transition to become an effectively governed and economically, socially progressing country driven by
its own national priorities. This requires a paradigm shift in the nature of partnership between the Afghan Government and the International
Community, from that of being recipient and donors to owner and partners. The realization of this shift necessitates re-defining the principle,
reciprocal commitments and modalities of partnership, which is the purpose of the Tokyo Framework. The Tokyo Conference is the turning point
to begin this re-definition in our partnership. Principles The Tokyo Framework is based on broadly accepted principles of inclusive and sustainable
economic growth and development: Governance has a direct bearing on development performance; International assistance aligned with
national priority programs enhances efficiency and sustainability of development assistance; International assistance through national budgets
can IMPLEMENTATION
improve national institutional
capacities,
performance, and accountability to its citizens; Monitoring of development and
GUIDANCE
NOTEdevelopment
#2
governance benchmarks in a transparent manner is a powerful means to enable accountability to the Afghan people, and reinforce reciprocal
commitments of donors; Private investment both domestic and foreign is key to sustainable economic growth; and Regional cooperation
facilitates the integration of regional economies, thus contributing to the sustainability of development efforts in Afghanistan. Mutual
Commitments The Participants emphasize the importance of the delivery of assistance through adhering to the principles of aid effectiveness,
that they cannot continue business as usual, and must move from promise to practice. The Tokyo Framework sets out a new reinvigorated
development partnership between the Afghan Government and the International Community. The Afghan Government and the International
Community affirm that a functional democracy based on credible and inclusive elections, a professional and efficient civil service, access to justice
and the rule of law are essential to a secure, just, stable and prosperous Afghanistan. Strengthened governance and institutions with a particular
focus on the rights of women are prerequisites for strong and sustainable economic growth, employment generation and prosperity for the
Afghan people. Afghanistan Governance and Development Commitments The Afghan Government and the International Community are to
monitor performance for five major areas of development and governance according to the modalities described below. A timeline for these
indicators is to be developed by the Afghan Government for the next JCMB meeting. The desired goals and initial indicators for each area are
stated below. Representational Democracy and Equitable Elections Goal: Conduct credible, inclusive and transparent Presidential and
Parliamentary elections in 2014 and 2015 according to the Afghan Constitution, in which eligible Afghan citizens, men and women, have the
opportunity to participate freely without internal or external interference in accordance with the law. Develop, by early 2013, a comprehensive
election timeline through 2015 for electoral preparations and polling dates; and Ensure that a robust electoral architecture is developed in a
secure, participatory and transparent manner to enable successful and timely elections. Governance, Rule of Law and Human Rights Goal:
Improve access to justice for all, in particular women, by ensuring that the Constitution and other fundamental laws are enforced expeditiously,
fairly and transparently; ensure that women can fully enjoy their economic, social, civil, political and cultural rights; fight against corruption,
including strengthening counter-narcotics efforts; and improve the capacity of state institutions. Indicators: Ensure respect for human rights for
all citizens, in particular for women and children, and allow the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission and civil society
organizations to perform their appropriate functions; Demonstrated implementation, with civil society engagement, of both the Elimination of
Violence Against Women Law (EVAW), including through services to victims as well as law enforcement, and the implementation of the National
Action Plan for Women (NAPWA) on an annual basis; and Enact and enforce the legal framework for fighting corruption including, for example,
annual asset declarations of senior public officials including the executive, legislative and judiciary. Integrity of Public Finance and Commercial
Banking Goal: Improved integrity of public financial management and the commercial banking sector. Implement the government program
supported by the International Monetary Fund on schedule; continue to enforce asset recovery and accountability for those responsible for the
Kabul Bank crisis; and strengthen banking supervision and reforms through Da Afghanistan Bank; Implement Public Financial Management
Action Plan and improve the management of public funds as measured by Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) assessment by
20 percent and raise the transparency of public funds measured by the Open Budget Initiative (OBI) to more than 40 percent; and
Implement the recommendations from the Financial Action Task Force Asia Pacific Group regarding anti-money laundering and combating
terrorist financing. Government Revenues, Budget Execution and Sub-National Governance Goal: Improve the Afghan Governments revenue
collection and capacity of line Ministries to develop and execute budgets accountable to, and incorporating, local needs and preferences.
Indicators: Through more efficient, transparent and accountable customs and tax systems, raise the ratio of revenue collection to GDP from 11
percent to 15 percent by 2016, and to 19 percent by 2025; Improve budget execution to 75 percent by 2017; Enact a legal framework to clarify
roles, and responsibilities
of government agencies at national, provincial and district levels, in line with the 2010 Sub-National Governance Policy;
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
GOVERNMENT budgeting
OF THE ISLAMICprocess
REPUBLIC OF
AFGHANISTAN
and Develop a provincial
that
includes provincial input into the relevant Ministries formulation of budget requests, linked to
a provincial planning process in which Provincial Councils have their consultative roles. Inclusive and Sustained Growth and Development
Goal: Achieve inclusive and sustained growth through a focus on human development, food security, private investment, and decent work and

AID MANAGEMENT POLICY

AID ALIGNMENT

2014

Aid Management Policy

Preamble
This Guidance Note No. 2 is the second in a series of Guidance Notes prepared for both internal
use within the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIRoA) and for our Development
Partners (DP). Further guidance notes will be issued in due course to cover other topics to help with
implementation of the GIRoA Aid Management Policy (AMP).
This guidance is specifically designed to enable the Ministry of Finance (MOF), other government
departments and donors to help achieve the London, Kabul and Tokyo Conference commitment
that 80% of all Official Development Assistance (ODA) will be aligned with Government priorities as
expressed in the National Priority Programs (NPP).
Guidance as set out in this note, allows for exceptions in its implementation and does leave some
scope for innovation and flexibility, otherwise it would not be called guidance. Thus the guidance
is not binding on the Government or DPs, in the sense of being mandatory in every detail. However,
the Guidance does have to be followed in the sense of its contents being drawn on for reference
and being regarded as setting out the ideal course to pursue to implement the Governments Aid
management Policy.
List of Guidance Notes in this Series

Guidance Note #1 - On-budget (OB)

Guidance Note #2 - Aid Alignment (AA)
Guidance Note #3 - The Development Framework Agreement (DFA)
Guidance Note #4 - The Finance Agreement (FA)
Guidance Note #5 - Joint Analysis, Research and Assessments (JARA)
Guidance Note #6 - Aid Reporting in the Development Assistance Database

Guidance Note 2: Aid Alignment

1.

Introduction
The Tokyo Mutual Accountability Framework (TMAF) states:

The International Community welcomes the Afghan strategy, and reaffirms its
commitment of aligning 80 percent of aid with the NPPs and channeling at least
50 percent of its development assistance through the national budget of the Afghan
Government in accordance with the London and Kabul Communiques.
However, though the concept of alignment has been discussed since 2010 little attempt has been
made to pin down what the concept means in practice.
The OECD DAC definition of Alignment is: ...international actors align when they base their support on partner countries national development strategies, institutions and procedures1. The Tokyo
Declaration clarifies that ...alignment of donor assistance to Afghan National Priorities is to be determined in reference to specific deliverables outlined by the Afghan Government in the approved
NPPs2. When drafting the AMP the MOF AMD took the view that these definitions are not specific
enough to provide clarity to both donors and government departments, neither does such a definition fit the spirit of the commitments that had been made in London and Kabul. Accordingly, the
MoF AMD drafted the following definition which is now in the approved AMP:

Alignment means external partners are aligned with NPP strategy and the
underlying principles of all donor programs and projects are consistent with the
NPPs stated approach. Alignment is fully achieved when donor funded projects and
the National Priority Programs have common, unified and consistent objectives,
plans, programs, projects and deliverables.
MoF believes the above definition is clearer and establishes a common understanding between the
Ministry of Finance (MoF) and the international donor community on the issue of what alignment
really means. This Guideline seeks to elaborate further on the precise way to work towards reaching the target and the issues and bottlenecks that will need to be tackled. Ministries and donors will
be encouraged to engage in an elaborated process that can seek to identify comprehensively the
degree of alignment in a way that respects the definition of alignment provided by the AMP.
Many donors have made progress in aligning their development aid with the NPPs. However, differences in the interpretation of the term alignment to date mean that it is not possible to confirm
the precise degree of alignment with NPPs. The Government is also keen that donors move further
towards use of country systems and institutions and that they address priority NPP financing needs.
The AMP definition of alignment therefore places the NPPs, the 21 out of 22 currently approved, at
the center of attention. The alignment exercise implicitly assumes that the NPPs are supported by
both the Government and donors as the single set of priority programs and projects of the GIRoA.
It assumes that donors, who pushed strongly for the Kabul Process, have participated in the development of the NPPs, have passed their views to the relevant Ministry and the Cluster and ultimately,
in a joint planning process, then approved the NPPs at the JCMB.
The London, Kabul and Tokyo Conference outcomes as a whole assume that donors have also willingly entered to a process that now requires full alignment with at least the deliverables of the NPPs
save for those projects which are either not covered by the governments jurisdiction or are related
to wider governance issues that promote transparency, accountability and legitimacy, for example
1 OECD (2011) 2011 Survey Guide for Monitoring Implementation of the Fragile States Principles. Paris OECD, p18
2 Tokyo Declaration 2012, p.13

Aid Management Policy

support to civil society organizations. The latter projects fall into the remaining 20% and are fully
supported by GIRoA as a necessary counterbalance to development investment in Government
priorities and institutions.
There can be no doubt that the NPP process, despite its undoubted flaws as one finds in all planning processes, now represents the agreed development program and an agenda for transition
and beyond. If there is a doubt those concerns ought to be clearly expressed sooner rather than
later. Because of the delay in agreeing all the NPPs, some of the early approved plans will soon
need to be updated. This is an important issue to address and the Ministry of Economy, responsible for monitoring this process, will provide appropriate guidance in due course.

2.

The Way Forward to Achieve Alignment: The Basics

The review of projects and their alignment is premised on both donors and ministries understanding that appropriate resources (time and people) are required to be allocated to this
task;
Currently the baseline measurement of what amount of aid is currently aligned has not
accurately been assessed. A preliminary self assessment exercise undertaken by some
donors as preparation for the Senior Officials Meeting (July 2013) has revealed a number of
questions that require deeper analysis;
Alignment can only be achieved where all parties work together on an agreed process and
assume from the start that it is likely both the Government and the Donor (and their implementing partners) will have to make the necessary changes to achieve that alignment;
Full alignment is only going to be achieved where a substantive discussion and negotiation takes place between the government (AMD and the respective ministry) and the donor
and/or its implementing partner;
The process of holding Alignment discussions can be supported by the MoF through some
briefing and training sessions for the ministries on the how to. In order for Ministries to
participate actively in the alignment discussions, they should prepare adequately in advance
and will receive technical support from MoF AMD;
Funds that are spent on-budget are assumed to be aligned;
Whilst the AMD use the annual DCD to hold annual discussions, consultation on alignment
is an ongoing process throughout the whole project cycle.

3.

How is Alignment Best Reviewed & Measured?

1. Each Ministry will need to review each NPP together with their development partners. All
development partners should participate. It is a joint review. It is recommended that periodic reviews take place as a matter of course. In this case the review would involve all donors who are
supporting the relevant NPP.
2. Development partners programs and projects are then systematically tested against the NPP
and an agreed set of criteria that reflect the intentions set out in the agreed definition of alignment. Table 1 below sets out a possible range of criteria. A questionnaire has been prepared
that provides a pool of questions for both the Ministries and Development Partners to use in the
assessment. Not all questions may be applicable and both parties are expected to use their discretion in applying the questions.
3. The survey is undertaken, the results analyzed and discussed between the Ministry and the
development partner(s).

Guidance Note 2: Aid Alignment

4. Problematic areas of the programs and projects are identified and the Ministry and its development partners agree a program of work to carry out the action required to achieve alignment. A
draft format of such a report is set out in Annex A.
Criteria to Appraise Program & Project Alignment

Check

Support for NPP results

yes no

Basic program implementation parameters

yes no

Level of activity outside the scope of the NPP

Program leadership and management of the implementing partner
Program work planning and follow-up

Program technical documentation and QA

Program monitoring & evaluation

Program financial implementation

Compliance with GIRoA systems

yes no
yes no
yes no
yes no
yes no
yes no
yes no

Capacity building strategy and efforts

yes no

Ministry participation in design

yes no

Ministry participation in program decision-making

yes no

Interaction of ministry and program manager

Alignment of technical content with ministry/government policy

Ministry access to reporting and management information
Sustainability of the program/project
Program/project financial reporting

yes no
yes no
yes no
yes no
yes no

Table 1: General Approach to Appraising Program and Project Alignment with NPPs.

A secondary aim, indeed benefit, of the alignment exercise is to ensure that programs and projects
are properly managed and relationships between the Ministry or Agency, the donors and implementing partners are mutually beneficial. Undertaking the Alignment test will lead to a better understanding of programs - the strengths, weaknesses, gaps, overlaps etc. This will direct all parties
to agree the changes and/or improvements to better align the programs with the NPP and highlight
necessary changes by the government in terms of the key leadership and management issues,
thus also increasing ownership of off-budget projects
Additional benefits may also accrue. The process may also help Ministries and Agencies refine
their own emerging restructuring and change management programs under the Capacity Building
for Results (CBR) program and other initiatives.

Annexes

Annexes

Guidance Note 2: Aid Alignment

Annex A: Report Format for Programme & Project Realignment Action Plan
1. Introduction and Context
{Insert text}

2. Programme Summary: Strengths, Weaknesses, Gaps, Overlaps etc

{Insert text}

3. Project Design Changes Required to Increase Alignment (Alignment with Ministry/Agency/GIRoA Policy and Outcomes & Outputs of the NPPs)
{Insert text}

4. Changes required to Project Management

{Insert Text}

5. Implications for Ministry/Agency Restructuring and Reorganization

{Insert text}

6. Justification for Activities Outside the Scope of the NPP

{Insert text}

7. Necessary Changes to Programme Leadership and Management

{Insert text}

8. Necessary Changes to Programme Financial Management and Reporting

{Insert text}

9. Specific Changes Required for Compliance with GIRoA systems

{Insert text}

Annexes

10. Necessary Changes to Capacity Development Approach & Plans for Training and Development
{Insert text}

11. Current Use of NTA & Future Proposals

{Insert text}

12. Necessary Changes in Ministry Leadership & Management

{Insert text}

13. Necessary Changes to Ensure Sustainability of the Program

{Insert text}