The Paris and Accra commitments are insufficient to ensure donors improve the development impact of their aid, according to this Briefing Paper. It highlights key findings from in-person interviews with mid-range and senior politicians, and senior government officials in Ethiopia, Sierra Leone and Zambia. In addition, it draws upon findings from previous ODI research on stakeholder perceptions and the messages emerging from partner country consultations preceding the Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in 2008. This exclusive, and unfiltered, focus on the perspectives of recipients highlights the opinions of a group of stakeholders that is often under-represented in the international arena. It finds that greater understanding of the terms ‘predictability’, ‘transparency’ and ‘mutual respect’ is needed, and proposes a more imaginative agenda, coupled with intelligent and purposeful donor action, as part of the solution.