Aid is dominated by the numbers game. Source: flickr/milky.way
Official development assistance (ODA) is growing. In fact, it has more than quadrupled in the past 25 years and is now a $50 billion industry.
The aid industry is changing too, as the number and diversity of funders increases. Though a majority of aid still comes from official donors, including emerging giants such China and India, this is being supplemented by new non-official providers, including private and corporate foundations, and social responsibility programmes. In addition, money is being spent in different ways, for example on global programmes to combat specific issues, such as the control of malaria or measles.
Despite this, the aid debate continues to be dominated by the numbers game – how much money is needed, compared to how much donors are contributing – rather than whether the aid system itself is fit for its purpose.
ODI is working to understand what makes aid effective in the face of these changes. Research has a crucial role to play in how aid should be managed and delivered, and our studies drill down through the aid architecture to find out what works, and what doesn't. Our work on aid is led by the Centre for Aid and Public Expenditure, with more sector-specific research being undertaken in other groups and programmes across the Institute.
ODI resources on this theme cover the following areas:
| What are the key challenges in aid policy?
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How do development and foreign policy connect?
'For a long time, the development aid community has worked to ring-fence aid and ensure that it is used specifically for 'poverty reduction'. Historically, this has its roots in the often well-founded fear that 'they' would use 'our' money to further geo-strategic political or commercial interests that could only loosely be described as developmental. But what if 'we' and 'they' were actually on the same side? Would it make sense to reconsider the acute ring-fencing that currently prevails?'
ODI Publications - Opinion
93
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December 2007
Simon Maxwell
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Measuring Governance: What Guidance for Aid Policy?
(PDF, 1.52mb)
There is widespread agreement that governance matters – intrinsically, as well as for improvements in socio-economic outcomes and for aid effectiveness. This paper look at how best to rigorously and systematically link aid policy to governance situations in developing countries.
Good Governance, Aid Modalities and Poverty Reduction Working Paper
5
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August 2007
Julius Court and Verena Fritz (ODI) with E. Gyimah-Boadi (CDD)
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Beyond-aid policies and impacts: Why a developing country perspective is important
'In the context of what DFID's 2007 Annual Report says about the development impacts of the policies pursued by other UK Government departments, this Opinion explains why a developing country perspective is important in determining domestic policy.'
ODI Publications - Opinion
79
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May 2007
Alan Hudson
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Changing aid delivery and the environment
This paper examines how environmental objectives are pursued by donors in a context where aid delivery mechanisms are changing, asking how donor support can best be delivered to meet environmental objectives.
ODI Publications - Briefing Paper
17
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March 2007
Neil Bird and Lidia Cabral
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Donor Policy Narratives: What Role for Agriculture?
(PDF, 55kb)
How do international agencies concerned with agricultural development see the role of agriculture? What is the role for the market and the state? This briefing examines four recent statements from major aid agencies, asking how they see the role of agriculture in development.
Future Agricultures Briefing
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January 2007
Lídia Cabral and Ian Scoones
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Providing aid in insecure environments: trends in policy and operations
This brief summarises findings from a two-year study examining aid in insecure environments. Drawing on the most comprehensive global dataset to date of major reported incidents of violence against aid workers from 1997 to 2005, it provides a quantitative analysis of the changing security environment for civilian aid operations. It then examines the related trends in policy and operations over the last decade, in particular how perceptions of increased risk to aid operations have affected the development of security measures. Lastly, it explores the way in which aid operations have adapted to working in highly insecure contexts through a growing reliance on national staff.
HPG Publication - Policy Brief
24
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September 2006
Abby Stoddard, Adele Harmer and Katherine Haver
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Policy Autonomy and the History of British Aid to Africa
This article utilises historical information to throw light on the forces shaping British aid policies towards Africa. It outlines key long-term policy developments, summarises the influences shaping these policies and comments on the present juncture of UK policies. It shows that, while there
have been many influences, governments have enjoyed considerable policy autonomy, being largely unconstrained in pursuing their preferences in a top-down manner. This autonomy has mainly been used for the pursuit of long-term development, as against the promotion of the UK’s national
interest. The present thrust of UK policies to achieve massive increases in aid to Africa is a prime example of this policy autonomy.
ODI Journals - Development Policy Review
23.6
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November 2005
Tony Killick
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Re-thinking aid policy in protracted crises
'There has been a significant shift in thinking regarding the relationship between relief and development over the past decade. This has been driven by a number of factors, including an increased focus on linking aid and security'.
ODI Publications - Opinion
58
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September 2005
Joanna Macrae and Adele Harmer
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| When is aid effective or ineffective?
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How effective is European Commission aid on the ground?
(PDF 159kb)
This Project Briefing discusses the findings of ODI research on the impact of EC aid on the ground in three very different countries: Cambodia, Mozambique, and Peru. It finds that the quality of EC aid seems to be improving in important respects. Positive aspects include improved policy documents, changes in aid modalities, delegation of decision-making power to offices in partner countries, and more efforts in the political dimension of cooperation, such as political and policy dialogue. However, the evidence from the country cases also suggests that progress remains slow, pointing to persistent challenges that limit the effectiveness of EC aid.
ODI Publications - Project Briefing
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June 2008
Alina Rocha Menocal
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Good governance, aid modalities and poverty reduction: From better theory to better practice
(PDF, 760kb)
Leaders of the world community have committed themselves to providing development assistance on a scale and in a form that enables developing countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. In 2008, the international community will come together twice, in Accra in September and Doha in November, to assess the progress made in implementing these commitments. This report synthesises the findings of a two-year research project commissioned by the Advisory Board for Irish Aid which speaks directly to the agenda of these high-level reviews.
ODI Project Papers - Report
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February 2008
David Booth and Verena Fritz
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Why is Harmonisation and Alignment difficult for donors? Lessons from the water sector
• The Harmonisation and Alignment (H&A) agenda offers important opportunities for the water sector.
• The sector’s progress towards H&A remains piecemeal – with substantial differences between countries and within the water supply, water resources management and sanitation sub-sectors.
• Future efforts in H&A need to reach down to decentralised levels of government, in tandem with strengthening implementation capacity.
ODI Publications - Project Briefing
6
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January 2008
Katharina Welle, Alan Nicol and Frank van Steenbergen
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Governance and aid effectiveness: Has the White Paper got it right?
'The big challenge for Britain's aid policy is to reconcile concerns about governance in developing countries with the commitment dramatically to scale up aid. Aid is set to double. But governance in Africa in particular is often poor – and not significantly improving. Political risk will need to be taken much more seriously in coming years.'
ODI Publications - Opinion
73
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July 2006
Julius Court
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Learning from experience: A review of recipient government efforts to manage donor relations and improve the quality of aid
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The paper begins with an overview of the international context, tracing the evolution of the aid system from the Washington Consensus in the 1980s to the signing of the Paris Declaration in 2005. It then analyses the experiences of five countries seen as relatively successful examples of recipientled
aid policies and donor management. These countries are Afghanistan, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, and Vietnam. By way of conclusion, the paper outlines a set of factors that may facilitate recipient government leadership in the aid relationship.
ISBN: 0 85003 805 7
ODI Publications - Working Paper
268
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May 2006
Alina Rocha Menocal and Sarah Mulley
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Incentives for Harmonisation and Alignment in Aid Agencies
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The scope of this paper is to assess the importance of incentive systems internal to aid agencies in their efforts to deliver on the commitments made in the Rome Declaration on Harmonisation.
ISBN: 0 85003 754 9
ODI Publications - Working Paper
248
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June 2005
Paolo de Renzio with David Booth , Andrew Rogerson and Zaza Curran
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Aid to Africa: More doesn't have to mean worse
'Why are we condemned to conduct the public debate about aid to Africa in such grossly simplified terms?'
ODI Publications - Opinion
43
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June 2005
David Booth
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Power to Consumers? A Bottom-up Approach to Aid Reform
(PDF, 80kb)
'unless developing countries themselves are offered genuine choice about which aid agencies they want to work with, the effectiveness of aid in reducing poverty will decline'
ODI Publications - Opinion
40
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May 2005
Paolo de Renzio and Andrew Rogerson
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| Is budget and sector support working?
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Common funds for sector support
In the continuing effort to provide more effective aid, donors have committed themselves to making greater use of country systems and harmonising the way aid is delivered. Donor agencies that agreed to the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness in 2005 are free to choose the modality with which they deliver aid to the government sector, as long as they move progressively towards modalities that use country systems in full. Budget support and debt relief are the modalities that best meet these criteria.
ODI Publications - Briefing Paper
36
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February 2008
Zainab Kizilbash Agha and Tim Williamson
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Building Blocks or Stumbling Blocks? The Effectiveness of New Approaches to Aid Delivery at the Sector Level
(PDF, 1.02mb)
In the continuing search for ways to provide more effective aid, donors have committed themselves to making greater use of government systems and harmonising the way aid is delivered. Donors who agreed to the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness in 2005 are free to choose their own modality, as long as they progressively shift towards those that use government systems in full. This working paper analyses the effectiveness of different aid modalities and the coordination mechanisms associated with programme-based approaches at the sector level. It draws from three case studies, covering the education sector in Tanzania, the water and sanitation sector in Uganda and the health sector in Mozambique, and also from the broader literature.
Good Governance, Aid Modalities and Poverty Reduction Working Paper
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January 2008
Tim Williamson and Zainab Kizilbash Agha, with Liv Bjornstad, Gerald Twijukye, Yamungu Mahwago and George Kabelwa
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Aid, Budgets and Accountability: A Survey Article
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This article surveys the recent literature relating to the rationale for scaling up aid and improving its effectiveness. Modalities such as General Budget Support (GBS) are being introduced to increase country ownership and strengthen budget systems and domestic accountability. However, recent assessments of GBS programmes and Public Financial Management (PFM) reforms highlight a number of shortcomings which call into question the role of donors in supporting institutional change. Political-economy factors are often overlooked. Moreover, in a number of countries, donors are deeply involved in core policy processes, undermining their capacity to play a more constructive role. As a consequence, the strengthening of domestic accountability remains an elusive objective.
ODI Journals - Development Policy Review
24.6
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November 2006
Paolo de Renzio
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General Budget Support and Public Financial Management Reform: Emerging Lessons from Tanzania and Uganda
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This paper considers the effects of the shift towards General Budget Support (GBS) on Public Financial Management (PFM) outcomes and reforms in Tanzania and Uganda - two countries where donors have decisively increased the amount of aid they provide in the form of GBS in absolute and relative terms over the last decade.
ISBN: 0821364634
Chapter in S. Koeberle, Z. Stavreski and J. Walliser (eds), Budget Support as More Effective Aid?, Washington, DC : World Bank.
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May 2006
Tim Williamson
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Does General Budget Support Work? Evidence from Tanzania
ISBN: 0821364634
Chapter in S. Koeberle, Z. Stavreski and J. Walliser (eds), Budget Support as More Effective Aid? , Washington , DC : World Bank.
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May 2006
Andrew Lawson, David Booth, M. Msuya, S. Wangwe and Tim Williamson
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From Plan to Action: Water Supply and Sanitation for the Poor in Africa
(PDF, 118kb)
Discusses the results of research in four countries in sub-Saharan Africa, which investigated key stages along the ‘journey’ from Water Supply and Sanitation (‘WSS’ or ‘WatSan’) ‘allocations’ in Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) to budget allocations and actual expenditure on sector outputs. The research has observed the kind of events or factors which may disrupt and delay the flow of funds and their translation into poverty reduction outcomes.
ODI Publications - Briefing Paper
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April 2004
Peter Newborne, Tom Slaymaker, Tim Williamson, Belinda Calaguas and Mary O’Connell
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| What are the challenges in scaling up aid?
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Prelude to the Chronic Poverty Report 2008: Escaping poverty traps
It is clear that many of today's poor will simply stay poor, even if economic growth is sustained. They are caught in one or more of five poverty traps: insecurity of life or livelihood; weak citizenship status; living in a deprived area; experiencing social discrimination; or held back by poor quality work. The second international Chronic Poverty Report, launched next week, shows that the poorest can be included in progress.
ODI Online - Blog
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July 2008
Andrew Shepherd
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From Gleneagles to Hokkaido: Monitoring G8 commitments on aid to Africa.
This blog welcomes the DATA 2008 report, which monitors progress towards commitments made by the G8 at the Gleneagles summit in July 2005. Africa was promised an additional $25 billion per year in aid. As we approach the Japanese G8 summit at Hokkaido in July, there is a dangerous dearth of concrete and accessible information on progress towards that pledge. The annual DATA Report 2008 holds the G8 to account for its Gleneagles commitments on aid to Africa. It finds that many G8 members will fail to meet their commitments without dramatic increases in the next few years. There is wide variation. The EU members set themselves ambitious targets that many are struggling to reach, while Canada, the US and Japan made less ambitious commitments and are a little closer to meeting them. The UK’s scorecard looks relatively good: its budgetary commitments will bring it close to a relatively ambitious 2010 target.
ODI Online - Blog
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June 2008
Geoff Handley
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Reading between the lines. Is EU aid in trouble?
The EU Council meeting on 19 and 20 June represents an important marker in this year of the Call to Action on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). There are some serious issues to consider, including the failure of European donors to meet their commitments on aid, both in terms of the levels of funding and in delivering harmonisation and alignment. Most importantly, however, the future of the MDG project itself will be debated.
ODI Online - Blog
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June 2008
Simon Maxwell
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Funding agriculture: Not 'how much?' but 'what for?'
'Before calling for an increase in the volume of funding to agriculture, we need a better understanding of how resources are being used.'
ODI Publications - Opinion
86
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October 2007
Lídia Cabral
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A more careful approach to scaling up is called for
Just last week Kofi Annan, in his new role as chairman of the Africa Progress Panel, called on G8 leaders to deliver on the promises for increased aid to Africa that were made at Gleneagles in 2005. While large amounts of additional aid have so far failed to materialise, there is little doubt that in the near future aid will play an important part in efforts to assist African countries in reaching the MDGs. Yet, how and when scaling up happens is likely to be as important as how much additional aid is actually given.
ODI Online - Blog
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May 2007
Paolo de Renzio
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What would doubling aid do for macroeconomic management in Africa?
(PDF, 87kb)
This Briefing Paper explores the consequences of aid scaling-up for macroeconomic management, reports on the results of recent research and makes policy recommendations.
ODI Publications - Briefing Paper
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April 2006
Mick Foster and Tony Killick
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Don't Throw Money at Africa
A surge in aid to Africa poses serious dangers. Aid dependency there, which already exceeds levels elsewhere, would grow more serious. As aid increases, its contribution to growth tails off and eventually becomes negative. The absorptive capacity of most African governments is in grave doubt. Recipient governments' access to additional aid will reduce their need to tax citizens weakening the imperatives to listen to and account to them, and sapping taxpayers' incentives to organise to make themselves heard. The belief that enhanced aid can be accompanied by improvements in its effectiveness is also dubious. Nothing is more detrimental to effectiveness than pressure to spend. It will sacrifice quality for quantity - as the need to keep funds flowing pushes cool evaluation aside, country selectivity is eroded, and substantial amounts are thrust into fiscal systems that fail to provide even rudimentary assurance extra funds will be used in ways that donors would wish. Finally, increased aid, which will entail rich nations providing what for them is small change, might become an excuse not to tackle trade issues which would make a greater impact.
Article in IDS Bulletin 36:3
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November 2005
Tony Killick
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The Africa Commission's 'Big Push'
'The Africa Commission is an exhilarating, exhausting and intriguing read...It is the intellectual challenges which will extend the life of the Report..'
ODI Publications - Opinion
38
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May 2005
Simon Maxwell
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The Millennium Project: A Sound Strategy for Reaching the MDGs?
'The Millennium Project report Investing in Development invites developing countries to formulate expenditure plans based on what they will need to reach the Millennium Development Goals. Additional aid needed will be very substantial, even after allowing for re-allocation of current aid flows away from non-MDG related purposes.'
ODI Publications - Opinion
37
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February 2005
John Roberts
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| How can the international aid architecture be made fit for purpose?
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Corruption, Anti-corruption Efforts and Aid: Do Donors Have the Right Approach?
(PDF, 1.02mb)
This paper reviews the literature on corruption, anti-corruption efforts and aid, with a focus on: (i) tools for measuring corruption; (ii) the social science literature on the country-level causes of corruption and its relationship to poor governance; (iii) donor approaches to reducing corruption – both specific anti-corruption interventions and broader governance measures; and (iv) the debates and evidence on aid modalities and corruption.
Good Governance, Aid Modalities and Poverty Reduction Working Paper
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January 2008
Ivar Kolstad, Verena Fritz and Tam O’Neil
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Brussels Briefing - Aid for Trade
Speaking in the first panel at the Brussels Development Briefing on Aid for Trade, Sheila Page, ODI, describe the AFT agenda as result of a "bargaining process" in the framework of the Doha round. However, giving the fact that Doha is failing, Mrs. Page is afraid that the AFT agenda will become "just another aid programme" or a renamimg of existing programmes.
Source: Euforic.tv - see www.brusselsbriefings.net
ODI Audiovisual - Video blog
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December 2007
Sheila Page
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Multilateral donors: stakeholder perceptions revealed
This project briefing presents results from an ODI pilot project, undertaken in 2007, that aimed to identify the views of stakeholders in recipient countries about the performance
of key multilateral organisations, and their preferences for which organisations should disburse additional aid.
Key points:
• The perceptions of 261 senior recipient country stakeholders about the performance of multilateral organisations are a challenge for donors.
• Respondents and donors appear to use different sets of criteria to assess overall effectiveness.
• Perceptions of governance and ownership appear to
affect recipient preferences about which multilateral organisation should disburse additional aid.
ODI Publications - Project Briefing
1
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September 2007
Simon Burall
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Aid allocation and the MDGs
How much should countries get and why? A comparison of ways to calculate aid allocation followed by policy recommendations for donors and implications for the aid debate.
ODI Publications - Briefing Paper
19
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April 2007
Edward Anderson
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Lead, Follow or Get out of the way? The European Union and Impending Bretton Woods Reform
'There have been complaints for years that power in the IMF and the World Bank is skewed to rich countries, and that developing countries have too little “voice”. This year, there is real chance that votes in these two leading financial institutions will be redistributed in favour of large middle income countries.'
ODI Publications - Opinion
67
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March 2006
Sven Grimm and Lauren Phillips
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Aid for Trade: What does it mean? Why should aid be part of WTO negotiations? And how much might it cost?
'There is a real possibility that an Aid for Trade framework could be agreed during the Hong Kong ministerial meeting of the WTO (13-18 December 2005) potentially bringing tangible benefits to developing countries. Nonetheless, there is a great deal of uncertainty about what Aid for Trade is, and what it is not, as well as how much it would cost and how it would be implemented.'
ODI Publications - Opinion
61
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December 2005
Lauren Phillips, Sheila Page and Dirk Willem te Velde
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The Asian Tsunami: Economic Impacts and Implications for Aid and Aid Architecture
'With the benefit of just a little distance from the immediate impact of the tsunami on 26 December, some important points are becoming clear about the economic impacts and the wider implications for aid and aid architecture.'
ODI Publications - Opinion
32
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January 2005
Simon Maxwell and Edward Clay
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The aid story in 2008. What’s next?
2008 is turning into another of those milestone years for aid. A cluster of high level meetings are focusing international attention on the challenges around effective development assistance. This presents familiar challenges: how to scale-up, align and harmonise aid to support achievement of the MDGs by 2015. But what is crucially different is the global context in which this must now be achieved.
ODI Online - Blog
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April 2008
Alison Evans
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Accra 2008: The bumpy road to aid effectiveness in agriculture
(PDF, 116kb)
The 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness will be reviewed at the Third High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra in September 2008. The Paris Declaration establishes operating principles for donors and recipient governments to improve the effectiveness of aid. These include government leadership of the development process, a focus on policy results, greater alignment by donors with national policies and management systems, harmonisation between donors with division of labour, and mutual accountability for development
results. These principles are broadly sound for guiding development cooperation with national governments. However, they do not help in addressing the challenges arising in certain areas of assistance. In agriculture, the overwhelmingly private nature of agricultural activities, the
roles of non-governmental service providers, the significance of context and the cross-sectoral dimension of policy challenges are some of the reasons why development cooperation in that sector struggles to comply with the Paris principles. The paper sets out areas requiring focused attention in the run-up to Accra 2008.
ISBN: ISSN 1356–9228
ODI Specialist Series - Natural Resource Perspective
114
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April 2008
Lídia Cabral
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Ten steps to a new development agenda
'The poverty reduction paradigm has been a powerful driver, but the agenda is changing… An analogy I have drawn is with a visit to a game park. All eyes and lenses are focused on the lioness and her cubs on one side of the car. Meanwhile, on the other, unnoticed, a large bull elephant advances…'
ODI Publications - Opinion
84
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July 2007
Simon Maxwell
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Reforming the international aid architecture: Options and ways forward
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Various international political groupings including the G8, G20, the Commonwealth Secretariat and La Francophonie are taking a greater interest in the reform of the international aid system. More direct government and civil society engagement in these fora has the potential to build the trust and mutual accountability required for full implementation of Paris as well as the collective action required for significant UN reform. This paper sets out some options for reform which could be discussed by these political groupings and draws up a calendar of events for the next five years as the start of a process for identifying where and when high-level political engagement will be required to ensure significant reform of the international aid system.
ISBN: 10: 0 85003 827 8, 13: 978 0 85003 827 9
ODI Publications - Working Paper
278
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October 2006
Simon Burall and Simon Maxwell with Alina Rocha Menocal
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What’s next in international development?
'If the development agenda broadens, are aid agencies best equipped to lead? If not, how is policy managed across ministries of aid, trade, defence, foreign affairs, and others?'
ODI Publications - Opinion
71
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July 2006
Simon Maxwell
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The International Aid System 2005-2010: Forces For and Against Change
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The paper accompanies a seminar series in January and February 2004. It is intended for informal consultation and comments.
ISBN: 0 85003 708 5
ODI Publications - Working Paper
235
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March 2004
Andrew Rogerson with Adrian Hewitt and David Waldenburg
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