9.3.3 Development Assistance Group /Water Sector Working Group

The Development Assistance Group (DAG) for Ethiopia was established in 2001 to ‘foster information sharing, policy dialogue and harmonise donor support to Ethiopia in order to enable the country to meet the targets set in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)’ (DAG, n.d.). The DAG is a collaborative body consisting of development partners who provide development assistance in Ethiopia, according to the principles of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (see Study Session 4). Membership includes all the main bilateral and multilateral donor partners.

The DAG structure has a number of Technical Working Groups (TWGs) for specific sectors. Some of these have been renamed as Sector Working Groups (SWGs), including the former DAG Water Technical Working group, which is now part of the Water Sector Working Group.

The Water Sector Working Group was established in 2014 to support the integrated development and management of water in all relevant sectors. It is a joint government-donor group intended to ‘provide a forum for the government and donors to jointly, promote, support and coordinate sustainable and integrated development and management of water resources.’ (MoWIE, 2014b).