Appendix 5: Aid performance
Contribution of Australian aid to development outcomes
| Indicators2 | 2013–14 |
|---|---|
| Distance (km) of roads constructed, rehabilitated or maintained | 4,162 |
| Number of additional births attended by a skilled birth attendant | 889,067 |
| Number of additional children enrolled in school | 1,396,054 |
| Number of additional people with increased access to basic sanitation | 1,069,547 |
| Number of additional poor women and men able to access social transfers (such as cash or in kind transfers including food) | 3,612,022 |
| Number of children able to access schools that have been made more accessible to children with disabilities | 109,406 |
| Number of children vaccinated | 2,355,618 |
| Number of civil society organisations supported to track service provision | 3,694 |
| Number of classrooms built or upgraded | 9,401 |
| Number of people awarded tertiary scholarships | 4,510 |
| Number of people provided with disability services like prostheses and assistive devices | 137,035 |
| Number of people provided with increased access to safe water | 2,939,422 |
| Number of people with increased knowledge of hygiene practices | 2,073,702 |
| Number of police and other law and order officials trained | 17,939 |
| Number of poor women and men who gained access to agricultural technologies | 502,708 |
| Number of poor women and men who increased their access to financial services | 1,561,912 |
| Number of poor women and men with increased incomes | 642,153 |
| Number of public servants trained | 55,030 |
| Number of school officials trained | 20,406 |
| Number of students provided with financial or nutritional support | 663,993 |
| Number of teachers trained | 109,441 |
| Number of textbooks provided | 4,614,366 |
| Number of vulnerable women, men, girls and boys provided with life-saving assistance in conflict and crisis situations | 13,693,296 |
| Number of women survivors of violence receiving services such as counselling | 66,349 |
| Number of disaster responses launched by the department within 48 hours of a request for assistance during a humanitarian crisis | 8 |
| Percentage of WASH management committees in which women are equally represented | 58% |
| Value of additional agricultural production (US dollars)3 | 28,109,660 |
- Tier 2 headline results under the Comprehensive Aid Policy Framework.
- Results reflect total Australian ODA, including the contribution of other government departments.
- The ACIAR have advised that methodological changes mean its results cannot be reported on in this indicator in 2013–14. In 2012–13, ACIAR provided 86 per cent of the results against this indicator.
In 2013–14, the aid program recorded increases across a number of results compared to 2012–13. In particular, a number of indicators relating to the empowerment of women and girls showed strong results. For example, there was a 192 per cent increase in the number of births attended by skilled birth attendants. An investment in Bangladesh with the local NGO BRAC significantly contributed to this result by ensuring that an additional 574 000 births were supervised by an attendant skilled in the identification, management and referral of complications in women and newborns. Also in 2013–14, the number of women survivors of violence receiving services, such as counselling, increased by 168 per cent.
The aid program assisted more poor women and men to increase their incomes. The UN Development Programme significantly contributed to these results by increasing the incomes of over 300 000 people with core funding from Australia. Australian aid investments generated a 64 per cent increase in the numbers of civil society organisations supported to track service provision. This was largely due to Australian NGO Cooperation Program funding which supported 1983 civil society organisations. This increase will allow improved assessment of service provision leading to more effective governance in partner countries.
In 2013–14 the reported value of agricultural production due to Australian support was over US$28 million. In addition, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) independently reports approximately $13 billion of benefits in developing economies attributable to ACIAR's investment of $2.5 billion in all bilateral research since 1982.
In 2013–14, a number of results decreased from 2012–13 levels. For example, the number of poor women and men able to access social transfers, such as cash or in kind transfers, reduced from over 7.3 million people to over 3.6 million people. This was primarily due to the inclusion in the 2012–13 results of a one-off catalytic result following Australian support for improved systems to target, monitor and expand access to social transfers in Indonesia, which assisted almost 7 million poor people. Similarly, the number of public servants trained decreased by 73 per cent. The large result in 2012–13 was principally due to an electoral support program in Pakistan, which trained 126 206 public officials to prepare for general elections in May 2013.
Operational and organisational effectiveness
| Indicators | 2013–14 |
|---|---|
| Australian Multilateral Assessment completed and updated annually | Updated |
| Maintain minimum of 76% of tenders, by value, open and competitive | 96% |
| 100% of adviser remuneration will remain within Adviser Remuneration Framework limits | 100% |
| The number of initiatives will reduce by more than 25% by 2015–16 | 12% |
| At least 95% of the monitorable initiatives to report annually on performance through the quality at implementation mechanism | 99% |
| At least 75% of initiatives that are given a low quality effectiveness rating are cancelled or improved within two performance cycles | 78% |
| All independent evaluations listed in the annual evaluation plan will be published | 100% |
| Enrolment, transition and completion rates at all levels within the education sector will be disaggregated by gender by 2014 | 52% |
| 1,000 new volunteers per year by 2015–16 | 990 |
| At least 50 accredited Australian international development NGOs participating in ANCP by 2015–16 | 48 |
| At least 500 Australians on the Australian Civilian Corps register who are screened, trained and ready to deploy overseas | 513 |
| 100,000 teachers are trained by 2015–16 in the Global Education Program curricula | 44,732 |
- Tier 3 headline results under the Comprehensive Aid Policy Framework.
In 2013–14, the Australian aid program met key operational and organisational effectiveness performance indicators as shown in the table above.
As part of the Government's new performance framework released in June 2014, the systems used to assess the performance of our multilateral partners, non-government organisations and contractors will be revised and strengthened by July 2015. In 2013–14 assessments of these partners were undertaken, including key multilateral organisations.
In 2013–14, more than 99 per cent of the monitorable initiatives reported on their performance through the quality at implementation mechanism, exceeding the target for this indicator (95 per cent ). Poorly performing initiatives identified through this mechanism were required to improve or be cancelled within two years. In 2013–14, 78 per cent of poorly performing initiatives were either improved or cancelled, exceeding the target for this indicator (75 per cent). As part of the new performance framework, a tougher approach to underperforming investments will be implemented. In future years, where efficiency and effectiveness standards are not met and improvements are not achieved within a year, investments will be cancelled.
The Australian aid program seeks to ensure that its investments represent value for money, cost effectiveness and leverage the best available expertise. In 2013–14, the number of tenders, by value, that were open and competitive increased to 96 per cent. All advisers were remunerated within the Aid Adviser Remuneration Framework limits. The department improved its efficiency, reducing the number of its investments by 12 per cent in 2013–14. The department effectively managed the risk of fraud through active compliance with the Australian Government Fraud Control Guidelines.
The Government is committed to high standards of transparency and accountability in the management of the Australian aid program. This policy commitment is formalised in the Government's new development policy, Australian aid: promoting prosperity, reducing poverty, enhancing stability. The publication of 100 per cent of independent evaluations commissioned by the Office of Development Effectiveness is evidence of this commitment. Australia will fully participate in the International Aid Transparency Initiative and is working with our partner countries to ensure that the data in the education sector is sex-disaggregated where possible.
In 2013–14, the department involved the Australian community in the delivery of the aid program by supporting the mobilisation of 990 volunteers; completing the registration, screening and training of over 500 individuals for the Australian Civilian Corps; and training almost 45,000 teachers to engage Australian children in understanding the challenges faced by developing countries in our region.
