Introduction

Increasingly, trade is a priority for many developing countries and is being mainstreamed in development strategies. However, assessing the impacts of trade-related interventions is difficult. Yet keeping track of results is needed to help making policy choices. This book aims to provide guidance in establishing management frameworks which can track the results of aid-for-trade interventions. The project responds to demands from developing countries for greater transparency and accountability about trade-related aid funded programmes. This not only promotes local ownership of externally-funded development programmes but will also lead to better identification and prioritisation of binding trade related constraints and appropriate sequencing of policies and aid-for-trade programmes. Too often evaluating the efforts of aid for trade has focused on donor interventions at the project level – this project is about putting a spotlight on countries’ overall trade and development strategies and on how donors are supporting those strategies.