As representatives of the people, as legislators, and as leaders in overseeing government, parliamentarians, play a key role in ensuring that countries/governments spend their funds in accordance with the intended, agreed purposes, and avoid corruption or other misuse of government funds. In the interest of improving oversight and ensuring that donor funds are responsive to recipient countries’ development needs, GOPAC, in collaboration with the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF), created these Guidelines to Strengthen Oversight Through Parliamentarian-Donor Collaboration at the Parliamentary Network’s 2013 Annual Conference.

The idea for the guidelines originated from concerns raised at GOPAC’s fifth Global Conference of Parliamentarians Against Corruption. GOPAC members expressed concern that some countries have been negatively impacted when donor funds are misused or not allocated to their intended purposes, or when projects are perceived to be politically motivated and therefore canceled with changes in government. In some cases, citizens have had to repay loans without receiving the intended benefits.

These guidelines encourage parliamentarians, governments, and International Financial Institutions (IFIs) to take action and establish frameworks for regular cooperation to ensure improved governance in the use of development funds.