PERSPECTIVE Beyond Old-style Aid Eveline Herfkens September 2010 n Even though, according to the UN’s Millennium Development Goals Report 2010, the developing world seems on track to achieve the poverty reduction target by 2015, and some results indicate that the MDGs are achievable with the right policies and adequate international support, progress on several of the goals is still insuf­ficient – and some of the poorest countries are falling behind because developed countries are failing to provide the proper amounts and quality of aid. n The consensus reflected in the Paris/Accra Declarations on Aid Effectiveness – signed by all OECD governments – on what contributes to aid effectiveness, implies that no aid yields lasting results without developing-country ownership. Therefore, instead of allowing accountability to donors to undermine good governance and develop­ment effectiveness, developing-countries’ governments need to be accountable to their own citizens and elected representatives. n Furthermore, the author seeks to show why, apart from reducing the number of do­nors, the ultimate aid delivery mode is budget support. Budget support which relies on recipient country systems creates crucial incentives which are likely to improve public financial management for both recipients and donors. n However, improving aid effectiveness is no substitute for meeting commitments on aid levels. Without European leadership and a commitment to improve»donor« gov­ernance, rich countries will lose credibility in any serious discussion of developing­countries’ governance. Germany, too, can be blamed for a significant part of the gap between the billions of euros the EU pledged and what it has actually delivered.