The objective of this paper is to summarise experiences with sector programmes and the Sector Wide Approach to date.

The process involved in getting to a sector wide approach can be characterised as one in which sector strategy is formulated and costed, matched to available finance through an iterative process, converted to a work-plan, and formalised in agreements between the implementing agency and the sources of finance. Some of these processes proceed in parallel, or may not be fully completed, but it is conceptually helpful to distinguish them.

All countries reviewed have a history of sector strategies and plans, of varying quality and varying commitment, and efforts to move towards a Government donor agreement on policies, priorities, and goals do not start from a blank sheet. The long history makes it difficult to judge where the initiative came from.