The issue of ownership has been at the heart of the international development debate for several decades. While the Paris Declaration from 2005 contributed to (at least an alleged) consensus on the centrality of ownership, or partner countries’ effective leadership over development strategies and actions, the principle is ambiguous and not always enforced in practice.
Against this background, EBA decided to publish this working paper. The paper digs into the concept of ownership and explores the effects of a specific approach to ownership, namely “multi-stakeholder ownership”, on the sustainability of project results.