Search

Abstract: This article tries to clarify Government behaviours as to how to manage aid in Tanzania. Contrary to the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) donor intentions, the development aid structure, carefully constructed under the poverty reduction regime in Tanzania, has led to Tanzanian‐owned initiatives toward a national development plan (NDP). Furthermore, this article shows that, in the process of creating an international development aid system, the Tanzanian Government has learned to manage aid in a recipient‐driven manner not only from DAC donors, but also from China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an effort to enhance the impact of development aid, recipients are called on to provide democratically sustained ‘ownership’ for development policies, and donors to align their interventions with these ownership-dictated strategies of their partners. This article illustrates the weaknesses of such an approach. From a political-economy perspective, severe tensions exist between concepts of democratic ownership, on the one hand, and the experimental and iterative organisation of a society's encompassing interests in democratic settings, on the other. These tensions are even more pronounced in emerging democracies, making democratic ownership as a prerequisite for aid effectiveness an illusion, and provoking the re-emergence of traditional donor-recipient problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thinking on economic policy for development has undergone many shifts in response to the perceived weak results of earlier adjustment reforms. A new donor consensus has emerged based around the central themes of economic growth, good governance and social development. This article examines the logic behind this new aid paradigm, revealing a nuanced story with country circumstances playing a critical role and particular interventions varying in impact. For example, growth does not always lead to gains for the poor that match the national average; public expenditure needs to be targeted to achieve social development, but effective targeting is difficult; governance reform may be critical but there is no simple governance blueprint, and the corruption-growth association need not always be negative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study assesses the existence of imitative behaviour among donors in terms of their aid supply. The urgency in addressing this subject is motivated by an increasing degree of aid volatility and unpredictability which may be linked to this imitative behaviour. Our results highlight that while any connection among donor peers is a potential channel for the transmission of aid volatility, the extent of such volatility decreases significantly in the presence of established imitative behaviour. This result suggests that the promotion of donor imitative behaviour would contribute to containing the current and growing trend of volatility in aid supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Over the past decade, a host of donor organizations implemented transparency systems to make international development aid more transparent to the public. These initiatives have met with little public interest, but their proliferation and development show no sign of diminishing. This article shows how internal importance to the political system, fueled by formal rankings and the exhibition of transparency systems as a flagship initiative, can replace relevance to the public as a driving force for sustainable development. The article concludes by discussing the possibility of a future development where transparency systems finally do connect with user groups, such as citizens of both donor and recipient countries, and gain a relevance even beyond original intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The global aid world has changed, partly in response to the reconfigurations of geopolitical power and to the global financial crisis (GFC). Paradoxically, in the face of recession in most northern economies, collectively foreign aid contributions have not fallen. However there has been a qualitative shift in its narrative and nature. This new regime—which we term retroliberalism—projects the concept of “shared prosperity,” but constitutes a return to explicit self‐interest designed to bolster private sector trade and investment. Drawing evidence from New Zealand and the United Kingdom, we argue that aid programmes are increasingly functioning as “exported stimulus” packages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: El Salvador and the Philippines have had relatively successful democratization processes and decades of sustained international support, but continue to experience high levels of violence from non‐state actors that prevent or delay the consolidation of democracy. How has international support helped or hindered these processes? This article finds that frequently donors and local stakeholders are vulnerable to the “ownership dilemma.” External donors often focus on strengthening state institutions rather than promoting inclusiveness. This is often the result of institutional capture by local elites that are reluctant to pursue structural reforms. While external support rarely has the influence to decisively shape processes of democratic consolidation, the analysis finds that windows of opportunity may emerge and assist in deepening support for consolidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This article studies the impact of the European Union (EU) on the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD). While the literature thus far has focused on the external challenges for the DAC's role in international development, this study argues that the EU should be taken into account as well. By focusing on the cases of policy coherence for development and the concessionality of official development assistance (ODA) loans, we show that the EU poses a structural challenge for the DAC's role in international development given the strong overlap in membership between both institutions and the Union's changing nature as a development actor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Via the Paris Declaration and the Accra Agenda for Action the international donor community has delivered a set of promises on ownership, harmonization and co-ordination. Uganda is an interesting case for assessing progress on Paris Principles and seeing the New Aid Architecture in practice. This article provides a historical overview of the implementation of 'Paris' in Uganda from the late 1990s up to 2010, showing that implementation is laggardly and, in more recent years, that earlier progress has been reversed. This is due to donors' perceptions of Uganda's political structure, and particularly its rampant corruption, and also to different views among donors and their internal adaptability in terms of truly measuring up to the Paris Principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major challenge for Middle-Income Countries is to 'make a difference' in global issues. The article examines Mexico's compromise in this regard within the OECD international development co-operation architecture. It highlights some of the footprints of Mexican diplomacy since the OECD membership (1994), through the Working Party on Aid Effectiveness, up to the launch of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation ( GPEDC), demonstrating how Mexico gradually increased its profile and responsibilities in specific international negotiation frameworks where its dual nature as donor/recipient is precisely contributing to 'making a difference'. Suggesting that Mexico could expand its South-South Co-operation ( SSC) even further, the authors argue that Mexico's quest is constrained by a certain consensus on the predominant development paradigm manifested in the GPEDC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A declared commitment in international development assistance is to promote donor co-ordination. Yet, how this objective plays out in practice, or how feasible and realistic it is, have rarely been evaluated. Using the fisheries sector as a critical case, this article explores whether two major international actors, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization ( FAO) and the World Bank, meet the demands of policy harmonization as spelled out in the Paris Declaration on aid effectiveness. Through a systematic qualitative analysis, the article investigates whether the policies of these actors are complementary or contradictory. It also assesses how the potential challenges to harmonization can be understood and what the broader implications for aid and development policies in general might be. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perceptions of the impact and effectiveness of development aid are used to assess whether the EU is viewed as a collective actor in foreign aid policy. Using Afrobarometer data, we explore the image of the EU in Africa relative to that of France, Britain, the US and China. We compare these results with the effects of trade and investment relationships between donor countries and their African counterparts. There are significant differences in the visibility of the major bilateral donors' activities in sub-Saharan Africa, and foreign aid has a positive impact on public opinion about the EU. The EU has partially overcome its collective action dilemma and has come to be perceived as a foreign aid actor in its own right. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The OECD's Paris Declaration (2005) discouraged donor project implementation units (PIUs) which are not integrated into government. But little is known about the behaviour and effects of PIUs integrated into government. Are they efficient? Do they support country systems? This article responds to these questions using research comparing two streams of implementation of schools investments in Malaysia's Eighth Plan 2001-2005, one via government alone and the other via a World Bank PIU integrated into government. It emphasises the conflicts which can exist within country systems, and how these affect the choices which a donor faces in seeking efficient implementation of a project while supporting country systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recognising that aid effectiveness critically depends upon the quality of host-country institutions and policies, international aid agencies have sought to inform their activities through more systematic political-economy analysis (PEA). In this article, three analytical frameworks for PEA are compared, contrasted and critically appraised in the light of reflections by PEA practitioners and recent theoretical debate about development management. The article finds that the potential of PEA to improve development effectiveness depends on how far it addresses the micro as well as macro politics of aid and permits a finer-grained engagement between analysis and action. This requires more reflexivity on the part of those who commission and produce PEA, and further movement from intervention to interaction modalities for aid delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Very little is known about the wider and longer-term contribution of civil-society organisations to development and poverty reduction. Evaluators have shied away from making judgements for lack of data: rigour has trumped relevance. This article reports on the work of a panel set up by NORAD in response to growing pressure from the public to assess the wider impact of CSOs at the country level. It comes to the conclusion that CSOs have made a significant wider impact, but that this would be greater if donors were to encourage them more to think beyond the narrow focus on discrete projects and if they were to adopt a more strategic approach to their work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The formal financial mechanisms for managing adaptation to climate change under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are falling significantly short of meeting needs in the most vulnerable countries. Given the close relationship between development and adaptation, it is tempting to use existing channels of development assistance to fill this gap. However, it is imperative that development assistance is not seen as a substitute for specific adaptation finance. This article therefore attempts to distinguish between the two roles, and considers how development assistance might support and complement adaptation funding and action under the Convention, rather than competing with or substituting it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change poses the most significant foreseeable threat to the development of humankind. Among the parts of the globe liable to be affected, the developing world is the most vulnerable to climate risks. Introducing a DPR theme issue on how development policy is responding to the increasingly pressured global climate agenda, this article reviews what is being done and still needs to be done, paying particular attention to action on three policy frontiers: (i) adaptation actions and finance, (ii) mitigation policies and their governance, and (iii) the implications for development planning. It addresses what will be needed for the development community to rise to the challenge in the run-up to the Copenhagen conference in 2009 and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The MDGs are being misappropriated to gain support for a specific development strategy, agenda or argument, mostly being used as a call for more aid or as a Trojan horse for a particular policy framework. As relative benchmarks, they are extremely difficult to meet in countries with low human development. Their misinterpretation as one-size-fits-all targets is leading to excessive Afro-pessimism, begging the question whether Africa is missing the targets or whether the world is missing the point. The global MDG canon is dominated by a money-metric and donor-centric view of development, and is not ready to accept that growing disparities within countries are the main reason why the 2015 targets will be missed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews the arguments for promoting private investment in infrastructure as a basis for poverty reduction in developing countries. It describes the experience leading to the development of international ‘facilities’ intended to address impediments to private investment. It then explores three ‘levels’ of literature: that of the facilities themselves, of donor organisations, and of academic authors. At each, it investigates the rationale and causal pathways leading from support for private investment to pro-poor outcomes. It finds there is a possible but not necessary association between private investment, economic growth and poverty reduction, but the causal chain is poorly understood. It proposes the development of such a causal framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Andrew S. Natsios was Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development until January 2006. The US has the largest aid programme in the world but labours under certain constraints, notably a proliferation of Congressionally-imposed budget earmarks. Mr Natsios has been an articulate advocate as well as an outspoken reformer of the US approach to aid. It was appropriate, then, for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Overseas Development of the Westminster parliament, together with ODI, to invite him to speak in Parliament on 12 October 2005. 1 The present article, a version of that APGOOD speech revised by Mr Natsios since his November resignation, has been judged by DPR Editors to be an important development policy statement worthy of publication. Adrian Hewitt [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When international development policy prioritises goals determined by the donor's domestic policy concerns, aid agencies not only fail in their development objectives but can also generate conflict in the recipient country. In the Bolivian Chapare, where the United States is driven by the need to demonstrate success in controlling cocaine production, policies to eradicate coca leaf have led to programmes with limited development impact that increase conflict both locally and nationally. In contrast, the European Union's successful collaboration with local governments which began in 1998 provides insights into generating sustainable development and de-escalating conflict in drug-producing regions worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]