In December 2010, at the invitation of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN) of the Government of Rwanda, Synergy staff carried out a needs assessment for the expansion of the Development Assistance Database (DAD). The DAD has been the Government’s aid information management system since its implementation in March 2006, and has continued to evolve over time to serve the needs of MINECOFIN.
The mission focused on how to best position the DAD, both technically and programmatically, to serve the primary goals of the Government in both the immediate and long-term future. These include the capture of all external assistance data within the national budget; the integration of the DAD with the Government’s Integrated Financial Management System (IFMIS); as well as more effectively linking specific project results and development expenditures with national strategic goals.
Rwanda is currently a remarkable model in Africa when it comes to the relationship between external assistance management and national development results. Assisted by the DAD, the External Finance Unit within the MINECOFIN can provide institutions within the government with the necessary data on external financing and projects, thus allowing these institutions to better target their own interventions and allocate their resources.
It is Synergy’s long-held view that national ownership is paramount to the success of DAD. We aim to continue working closely with the Government of Rwanda to support its DAD Team, promote the participation of other government institutions, and improve data collection processes and the quality of information to enhance the Government’s decision-making capabilities.
