These standard
formats are for use in preparing Terms of Reference for the following studies:
the water resources country study, the pre-feasibility, the feasibility and the
evaluation studies. They are based on the logical framework and provide an
outline of the approach and the issues for study.

The standard format
might assist to prepare the detailed Terms of Reference from individual country
studies in each case.   

In September 2000, during the UN Millennium Summit the Millennium
Development Goals (MDG) were adopted by 189 nations and signed by 147 heads
of state and government setting up eight
goals to be achieved by 2015 as an answer to the world's main development
challenges

These are:

1. eradicating
   poverty and hunger in the world;
2. achieving
   universal primary education;
3. strengthening
   gender equality;
4. reducing
   child mortality;
5. improving
   maternal health;
6. combating
   HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases;
7. ensuring
   environmental sustainability;
8. developing
   a global partnership for development.

In February
2003, leaders of the major multilateral development banks and international and
bilateral organizations, and donor and recipient country representatives
gathered in Rome
for the High-Level Forum on Harmonization (HLF-Rome) as a response to their
concern with a series of issues related to the wide variety of donor
requirements and processes for preparing, delivering, and monitoring
development assistance. Enhancing harmonization between partners at the
international and regional level would improve the effectiveness in development
and contribute to the achievements of the MDG. The Rome Declaration on
Harmonization programme of activity is:

• Ensure that
  harmonization efforts are adapted to the country context, and that donor
  assistance is aligned with the development recipient's priorities.
• Expand
  country-led efforts to streamline donor procedures and practices.
• Review and
  identify ways to adapt institutions' and countries' policies, procedures,
  and practices to facilitate harmonization.
• Implement the
  good practices principles and standards formulated by the development
  community as the foundation for harmonization.

To this end, partner countries would design country-based
action plans for harmonization, agreed with the donor community, which will set
out clear and monitorable proposals to harmonize development assistance using
the proposals of the DAC/OECD.

On March 2, 2005, the participants at the Paris High-Level
Forum issued the "Paris
Declaration on Aid Effectiveness," in which they committed their
institutions and countries to continuing and increasing efforts in
harmonization, alignment, and managing for results, and listed a set of
monitorable actions and indicators to accelerate progress in these areas. 
Another principal document coming out of Paris was a "Report
on Aid Effectiveness: Review of Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities.

The responsibility of developed and developing countries for
delivering and managing aid are condensed in terms of five principles:

1. Ownership - Developing countries set their own strategies
   for poverty reduction, improve their institutions and tackle corruption.
2. Alignment - Donor countries align behind these objectives
   and use local systems.
3. Harmonization - Donor countries coordinate, simplify
   procedures and share information to avoid duplication.
4. Results - Developing countries and donors shift focus to
   development results and results get measured.
5. Mutual Accountability - Donors and partners are accountable
   for development results.

The Paris Declaration sets out 12 specific objectives
and measurable targets to achieve by 2010. The objectives and targets were not
part of the original Paris Declaration; however, the DAC and the World Bank
were mandated to set out objectives and targets and established indicators for
each of the targets based on country level information. Nevertheless, country
development strategies and procurements are based on World Bank information on
Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) and World Bank
country assessments of policies.

In 2008, the Accra Agenda for Action
(AAA) was agreed based on the on the commitments agreed in the Paris
Declaration. It was agreed on:

• Predictability
  – donors will provide 3-5 year forward information on their planned aid to
  partner countries. Country systems – partner country systems will be used to
  deliver aid as the first option, rather than donor systems.
•  Conditionality – donors will switch
  from reliance on prescriptive conditions about how and when aid money is spent
  to conditions based on the developing country’s own development objectives.
• Untying –
  donors will relax restrictions that prevent developing countries from buying
  the goods and services they need from whomever and wherever they can get the
  best quality at the lowest price.

The Aid modalities or Aid instruments i.e. the way donor
support is channelled to the activities to be funded includes the terms Sector
Programme Support (SPS) and Sector-wide Approach (SWAp). Financial support in
the form of e.g.  Mixed Credit,  soft loan, 
bilateral technical adviser, budget support, parallel support or in-kind
support are also included in it. SWAp may also include budget support, parallel
support, and in-kind support.

The main different
financial modalities are:

• Budget Support can
  be in the form of General
  budget support if the financial
  support from a donor is channelled into the general treasury account of a
  recipient country as an integral part of the resources herein and it co-funds
  the national budget or as Sector budget
  support if the financial
  support from a donor is channelled into the general treasury account of a
  recipient country as an integral part of the resources and it co-funds the
  national budget of a particular sector.
• Basket funding – sometimes also ‘pooled
  funding” is the joint funding by a number of donors of a set of activities
  through a common account, which keeps the basket resources separate from all
  other resources intended for the same purpose.

Poverty
Reduction Support Credits (PRSCs) are a series of annual programmatic development loans in the
form of budget support-to-support implementation of a country’s Poverty
Reduction Strategy with clear performance benchmarks, including results
indicators and policy measures within the areas of the World Bank’s primary
responsibility

These standard formats are for use in preparing Terms of Reference for the following studies : the water resources country study, the pre-feasibility, the feasibility and the evaluation studies. They are based on the logical framework and provide an outline of the approach and the issues for study.

The standard format should be used to prepare the detailed Terms of Reference fro individual country studies in each case filling in and describing the specific requirements. The text in the shaded boxes will assist in identifying the individual requirements for each study.It would be stressed that clear formulation will help ensure that all relevant issues are considered, thus enabling informed decision making.

The Terms of Reference are to be drawn up by the EC Unit/delegation in collaboration with the partner country.