User:Pbberg/aidmanagementplatform

The Aid Management Platform (AMP) is an aid information management system provided by the non-profit organization Development Gateway. It is intended for use by developing country governments that receive official development assistance, and allows them to manage and analyze aid flows and aid-funded activities.

Development Gateway provides the system as part of a package of services that includes a technical and institutional assessment, implementation of a pilot version of the system followed by full implementation, training, technical support, and institutional strengthening activities. These services are collectively known as the Aid Management Program. Implementations of the program are typically funded by one or more bilateral and/or multilateral donors. In some cases implementations are partially funded by the host government.

History
The first Aid Management Platform (AMP) was established in Ethiopia in 2005. It was created by Development Gateway in partnership with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank, and the governments of Ethiopia and India. The impetus for AMP came from the global aid effectiveness agenda, beginning with the Rome Declaration on Harmonization, which mentioned Development Gateway as a potential provider of information technologies to help advance aid harmonization. AMP is designed to support achievement of the goals of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the Accra Agenda for Action.

Aid Management Program Implementations
As of May 2011, the Aid Management Program had been implemented in 20 countries, including the following (some of which have made AMP data available to the public online):

System Features
AMP is an online software tool that helps governments track information on aid-funded development projects and programs, although it can also be used to manage domestically-financed investment projects. It is based on open source software components and governments that implement the system acquire a royalty-free version of the source code, as well as rights to obtain the source code for future additions and modifications to the system. The system is customizable through an administrative interface that allows for an administrator without a technical background to make a number of changes to the system. These include turning data fields or modules on or off, setting user permissions, and translating or editing text within the system.

System modules include the following:


 * Aid Information and Reporting
 * Dashboards and Mapping
 * Collaboration Tools
 * Monitoring and Evaluation
 * System Integration
 * Administrative Module

A demo version is available on the Development Gateway website.

Use of the System
thumb|right|211px| Processes around use of the system vary widely from country to country. In some cases, the host government maintains full control of data entry, obtaining information on aid-financed activities through other means and then capturing that information in the system. In other countries, donor agency staff enter information on their projects and programs directly into the system, while in other countries there is a hybrid process with government and donor staff involved in data entry.

In conjunction with system implementation, Development Gateway provides host governments and donors with training on use and maintenance of the system, as well as consulting services on data management and aid coordination. It offers several levels of user certification. It also organizes workshops for governments using AMP to exchange information on their procedures and strategies for aid coordination and information management.

Aid Information Management Systems: Benefits and Challenges
Aid Information Management Systems (AIMS) are typically used by governments of low- and middle-income countries to manage receipts of development assistance from official donors. Many of these countries receive financial assistance from dozens of donors, and lack the means to systematically and comprehensively track aid flows and consider projected aid receipts in domestic budget planning processes. AIMS like the Aid Management Platform (AMP) and its major competitor, the Development Assistance Database (DAD) by Synergy International Systems, are generally intended to boost government capacity for aid information management, as well as improve aid transparency and accountability. Some AIMS, including AMP, can also be used to track development-related indicators such as progress on national Poverty Reduction Strategies and internationally-decreed indicators of progress (such as the Paris Declaration indicators or Millennium Development Goals). In some cases, AIMS are linked to other national information systems such as Integrated Financial Management Systems or statistical databases. For example, in Senegal, the government has linked AMP to the government’s Integrated System of Financial Management (SIGFIP), which records national budget information.