FACTBOX-Delivery problems, pitfalls undermine effective aid

Aug 31 (Reuters) - Ghana hosts a high-level meeting on aid effectiveness from Tuesday to Thursday which will bring together ministers and representatives from more than 100 countries, both donors and recipients of aid.

Senior officials from multilateral development and financial agencies, including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, will also take part in the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra.

The meeting will look at ways to make international aid work better for the world's poor, who have been badly hit this year by soaring prices for food, fuel and other basic necessities.

It will review progress made in applying the so-called Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness issued after the last meeting in the French capital in 2005.

THE PARIS DECLARATION ON AID EFFECTIVENESS

The Paris Declaration sought to improve the delivery and management of international aid in order to enhance its effectiveness in helping the world's most needy.

It spelled out a global commitment organised around five key principles for international aid:

* Ownership -- recipient countries should lead their own development policies.

* Alignment -- donor countries should tailor their aid to the development strategies of recipient countries.

* Harmonisation -- donor activities should be more harmonised, transparent and collectively effective.

* Managing for results -- decisions and managing of resources should be results-focused.

* Mutual accountability -- both donors and recipients are accountable for development results.

WHY AND WHEN IS AID NOT EFFECTIVE?

Aid organisations like Britain's Oxfam say a number of problems, pitfalls and obstacles can obstruct the effective delivery of aid to those who most need it: