OECD DEVELOPMENT CO-OPERATION PEER REVIEWS : austria 2020.

Foreword
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations and acronyms
Executive summary
	The DAC’s Recommendations to Austria
The DAC’s main findings and recommendations
	Austria is a reliable and valued development co-operation partner
		Austria plays an important regional leadership role and prioritises its engagement with the multilateral system
		Environment and gender are priority cross-cutting issues in Austria’s development co-operation
		Partners value Austria’s consistent engagement in priority countries
	Austria can build on its achievements
		A policy vision linking development co-operation objectives to budgets would help to focus Austria’s engagements with developing countries
		Comprehensive country strategies would ensure a holistic, co-ordinated Austrian presence in partner countries
		The share of ODA implemented by the Austrian Development Agency could be increased
		Greater transparency, and better use of results information and evaluation findings, could help to build public support for ODA
		A flexible funding instrument would support Austria’s commitment to conflict prevention
		Enhancing understanding and assessment of contextual risks would strengthen Austria's approach to managing risks of corruption
		Capacity investment is needed across the Austrian development co-operation system
	Austria needs to address some key challenges
		Austria is not meeting its international ODA commitments
		Policy coherence for development requires stronger institutional leadership
		Austria’s humanitarian policy is out of step with its crisis response
Secretariat’s report
	1 Austria’s global efforts for sustainable development
		Efforts to support global sustainable development
			Regional security and stability are mainstays of Austria’s international engagement
			Austria’s approach to irregular migration is sometimes at odds with the global consensus
			Leadership is needed to improve Austria’s approach to the 2030 Agenda
		Policy coherence for sustainable development
			Better institutional arrangements would enable Austria to make progress on policy coherence for development
			There are opportunities for Austria to improve policy coherence for development in several areas
		Global awareness
			Raising public development awareness will require a fresh strategy and new partnerships
		References
		Notes
	2 Austria’s policy vision and framework
		Framework
			Austria would benefit from an overarching vision for development co-operation that is owned across government
			ADC’s geographic priorities are clear in the three-year programmes
			Prioritisation within thematic priorities would support greater focus
		Principles and guidance
			Cross-cutting guidance is stronger, but actors lack shared understanding for several of Austria’s priorities
			Clearer articulation of poverty reduction and leaving no-one behind would support implementation
			Guidance on operating in fragile contexts is dated but remains mostly valid
		Basis for decision-making
			Country strategies have been strengthened but should be more widely used across the government
			ADC has a clear rationale for partnerships
			Austria prioritises its multilateral engagement
		References
		Notes
	3 Austria’s financing for development
		Overall ODA volume
			Austria still lacks a plan to meet its ODA-GNI commitment
			The quality of statistical reporting has improved
			Austria continues to tie a significant portion of its aid
		Bilateral ODA allocations
			Most ODA is not programmed with partner countries
			Only ADC’s geographic allocations tend to reflect priorities
			Austria’s small programmable budget needs greater focus on core themes
			Austria is strengthening efforts to integrate cross-cutting priorities into sectoral programming
		Multilateral ODA allocations
			Core multilateral funding is a consistently large share of Austrian ODA
			Austria’s multi-bi funding reflects its priorities
		Financing for development
			Austria is working to mobilise additional development finance
			Austria could increase its support to domestic resource mobilisation
			Austria’s tracking and reporting of non-ODA flows have improved
		References
		Notes
	4 Austria’s structure and systems
		Authority, mandate and co-ordination
			Austria’s fragmented development co-operation system lacks co-ordination
			Achieving a whole-of-government approach in priority countries is challenging
		Systems
			ADA and OeEB have systems in place to manage development co-operation
			The new risk management framework will be more systematic and dynamic
			Internal corruption is managed well, but external, contextual corruption risks need more attention
			Innovation is encouraged but not yet institutionalised
		Capabilities throughout the system
			Development co-operation staff are respected for their professionalism despite a number of challenges
			Staff management systems are in place but training opportunities are limited
			Locally engaged staff face particular challenges, including skill building
		References
		Notes
	5 Austria’s delivery modalities and partnerships
		Effective partnerships
			Austria offers predictability and flexibility to partners
			Austria participates in EU joint programming but rarely uses programme-based approaches
			Despite inclusive partnerships, multi-stakeholder approaches and direct support for local civil society is rare
			Austria is not meeting its transparency commitment
		Country-level engagement
			Country ownership is central to Austria’s development co-operation policy
			Austria uses partner country results frameworks and data, but not their systems
			Austria lacks the means to be predictable and accountable
			Austria uses a range of delivery instruments and partners in responding to partner country needs
		References
		Notes
	6 Austria’s results, evaluation and learning
		Management for development results
			Austria’s results system could focus more on its overall contribution to development
			Individual Austrian institutions have improved their results-based management
			Austria could be clearer about how its activities contribute to sustainable development
		Evaluation system
			A new evaluation policy will apply to the five key development actors
			Evaluations are prioritised, but could be more selective
			Evaluations could assess challenges facing Austria’s development system
		Institutional learning
			Institutional learning remains a challenge within the Austrian system
		References
		Notes
	7 Austria’s approach to fragility, crises and humanitarian assistance
		7.A. Crises and fragility
		Strategic framework
			Peace and conflict prevention are central to Austria’s foreign policy
			The strategic framework is dated but mostly still valid
			Most official development assistance does not go to fragile states
		Effective programme design and instruments
			A whole-of-government approach is taken where crises have implications for Austria
			Risk analysis is mandatory, even in non-fragile contexts
			A specific mechanism could strengthen Austria’s conflict prevention
			Austria takes a combined approach to forced displacement and migration
			Gender is taken into account in Austria’s conflict programming
		Effective delivery and partnerships
			Bilateral partnerships are stable
			Multilateral partnerships could be more coherent
			The European Union is Austria’s main co-ordination platform
			Implementing the humanitarian-development-peace nexus remains a challenge
		7.B. Humanitarian assistance
		Humanitarian assistance strategic framework
			Austria’s outdated humanitarian strategy no longer reflects its approach
		Effective humanitarian programming
			Austria’s humanitarian assistance is fragmented
			Austria’s humanitarian assistance is at high risk of politicisation
			A new evaluation could inform Austria’s humanitarian strategy
		Effective delivery, partnerships and instruments of humanitarian assistance
			Rapid response mechanisms work well
			An updated humanitarian policy could guide Austria’s response in protracted crises
			Partnerships with humanitarian NGOs could be more responsive and strategic
		References
		Notes
Annex A. Progress since the 2015 DAC peer review recommendations
	Towards a comprehensive Austrian development effort
	Vision and policies for development co-operation
	Aid volume and allocation
	Organisation and management
	Development co-operation delivery and partnerships
	Results and accountability
	Humanitarian assistance
Annex B. OECD/DAC standard suite of tables
Annex C. Field visit to Kosovo
	C.1. Development in Kosovo
		Despite progress since the conflict, several structural challenges are constraining Kosovo’s development
	C.2. Towards a comprehensive Austrian development effort
		Austria is a long-standing supporter of Kosovo’s state building, development and European perspective
		Austria is well placed to bring about change in Kosovo
	C.3. Austria's policies, strategies and aid allocation
		ADC’s engagement in Kosovo focuses on education and rural development
		Aid allocations reflect both Austria and Kosovo’s priorities
		Austria could work more with other bilateral partners to drive change
		Austria could better integrate fragility into its development co-operation
	C.4. Organisation and management
		Achieving a whole-of-government approach is proving challenging for Austria
		The ADC Co-ordination Office has a good reputation, but capacity constraints bring risks
		ADC has strengthened its approach to some cross-cutting issues, but struggles with environment, governance and corruption risk management
		Ensuring guidance is proportionate to context-specific risks will be important.
	C.5 Partnerships, results and accountability
		Austria is seen as a flexible, constructive and reliable partner in Kosovo
		ADC’s approach to evaluations and audit could be more proportionate
	References
	Notes
Annex D. Organisational charts