Beyond Aid' for sustainable development

Despite the two disadvantages of being intertwined with colonial policy, and of addressing far-off targets, official development assistance grew into a global policy in order to establish its local legitimacy. The history of global development assistance policy shows a contrast between very old instruments and very recent objectives, following a long consolidation process. The search for legitimacy gave rise to increasing advocacy work and strategic productions, originally intended for developing countries, which turned into a source of inspiration for the domestic policies of donor countries. The global nature of development assistance also means that it constitutes a form of multidimensional policy. Norms developed into a very complex group and their role very much increased, acting to constrain the very objectives of development assistance.

IIIS Discussion Paper 437

The definition of Official Development Assistance (ODA) has for 40 years been the global standard for measuring donor efforts in supporting development co-operation objectives. It has provided the yardstick for documenting the volume and the terms of the concessional resources provided, assessing donor performance against their aid pledges and enabling partner countries, civil society and others to hold donors to account. Yet for all its value, the ODA definition has always reflected a compromise between political expediency and statistical reality. As such it is based on interpretation and consensus and therefore allows for flexibility. It has evolved over the decades, while preserving the original concepts of a definition based on principal developmental motivation, official character and a degree of concessionality. While agreement on a consensus definition was a major achievement, discussion of the appropriateness of this measure has never ended, with a growing debate about whether ODA covers either too many activities or too few. We agree that the ODA concept has limitations. But the essence of it deserves to be retained, albeit in an amended state. To address prevailing concerns and to inform the debate, we propose an alternative measure of Official Development Effort (ODE). Furthermore, given that aid will continue to be an important part of development finance for some time to come, we argue that ODE could be useful in framing the post-2015 development agenda.

2004

Development and Change Book Series As a journal, Development and Change distinguishes itself by its multidisciplinary approach and its breadth of coverage, publishing articles on a wide spectrum of development issues. Accommodating a deeper analysis and a more concentrated focus, it also publishes regular special issues on selected themes. Development and Change and Blackwell Publishing collaborate to produce these theme issues as a series of books, with the aim of bringing these pertinent resources to a wider audience. Titles in the series include: Catalysing Development? A Debate on Aid Jan Pronk et al.

2008

Whereas 22 developed countries have pledged to contribute a paltry 0.7% of their GDP in form of Official Development Assistance (ODA) to developing countries, after 40 years of the commitment, only five countries have come close to that target. This paper argues that even then, the assistance is provided inefficiently since most of it is spent as unsolicited expensive Technical Assistance or repatriated in form of input purchase conditionalities. The paper also argues that ODA figures are artificially inflated by donors including forgiven debts as new assistance. It traces the recent history of development assistance from the Marshall Plan to the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. It singles out aid conditionalities as "master-student arrogance". It also criticises endless postponement of deadlines for achieving human development goals as tantamount to goal-shifting. Finally, it concludes that external aid cannot deliver a country from poverty, since the amounts commi...

DESA Working paper, 2006

Scholedge International Journal of Management & Development, 2019

This aim of this study is to explore the development assistance system and its multiple challenges in the global economy: an obstacle for assisted countries. Development aid is one of the instruments of international cooperation whose primary objective is to facilitate trade in the context of globalization. It deserves to be approached systemically to understand the different monetary and human flows and to build networks of actors developing reciprocal interdependencies. For example, development aid to poor countries can be broken down into four main variants: “budget assistance,” “technical assistance,” “project assistance” and “emergency assistance.” According to the authors, development aid must be analyzed in relation to the overall socio-economic and political context (on the donor country side) and local (in the assisted country), acting on the networking links developed by the actors involved. It is thus asserted in the asymmetry of the power relations between the players in...

This submission addresses the underlying government mechanisms needed to support any changes to the UK’s future approach to development. It explains briefly how the development landscape has evolved over the last decade and examines the extent to which DFID’s institutional set-up and ways of working will enable it to respond effectively to the changing environment. It reviews how other members of the OECD Development Assistance Committee have altered their organisational arrangements and considers the rationale for an integrated development agency model. Finally, it discusses the future of a standalone DFID. This submission was written with Mikaela Gavas, Maya Schmaljohann and Edward Hedger

International aid predominantly lies within the parameters of neo-colonial imperialism at worst or well intentioned paternalism at best. The focus of Overseas Development Aid (ODA) on governance, security and free trade on the macro side of development and poverty alleviation on the micro side, facilitates a barrier between international development efforts and enduring development (Esser & Williams 2014; Leo 2014; Hasenkamp 2012; Deacon & Cohen 2011; Carroll & Hameiri 2007; Stewart 2004). ODA commonly applies ephemeral strategies, rather than remedial solutions that are vital to move developing countries beyond the need for aid. Non-ODA aid can be a driver in redressing this imbalance and a leader in the redirection of international development towards building a more equal world. To progress international development beyond the goal of poverty alleviation towards enduring development and economic and social stability, the aid paradigm needs to shift its focus to self-determination, autonomy and political and economic inclusion. This essay highlights two key areas for reform that could be powerful catalysts in driving this shift in focus towards long term transformation, beyond economic and social instability and dependence. Drawing on micro and macro influences on governance, I have focussed on engendering self determination at both ends of the aid continuum, from delivery and implementation to international policy and institution building. Specifically, I see cash aid at the micro end and depoliticized aid allocations at the macro end, as primary strategies through which enduring development can be manifested for internally generated good governance.

The paper presents a possible scenario of development aid in 2040 and in no way attempts to predict the future. It attempts to review the development aid architecture in present global financial crisis which is acting as a ‘game changer’ in global development process. Issues of aid effectiveness, off track MDGs and flawed and poor targeting adversely impacting poverty reduction efforts would be acting as another important facet in this global process. Supply side failures like aid targets slipping out of reach together with the above said dimensions would bring development aid at cross roads in 2016. The paper shall attempt to provide alternative development architecture as a way forward to overcome this gloomy situation. The paper is set in the period after 2040 and the overview is based on presently available evidence of long term changes, logic and imagination. The paper encourages present aid scholars and policy makers to think about possible response for the future.

More than eight million people around the world die every year simply because they are too poor to remain alive (Sachs 1). Despite all of the advances in technology, conservation, and development efforts, the statistics on global poverty are still staggering. As the economically prosperous countries get richer, the poverty-stricken ones get even poorer and their situations more dire. Jeffrey Sachs views economic development as a ladder, with the top rungs representing economic success, and the bottom one sixth of the world defined as the group who are too poor to even make it to the bottom rung on the ladder. These people survive on $1 a day, live in extreme poverty, destitute conditions, with no access to healthcare, education, or economic opportunities. As the world advances, the divide between the richest people and the poorest people in the world is quickly becoming further and further apart. This is not because people do not care about developing countries. There are more NGO’s, international organizations, and funds spent on international aid than ever before in history. Since this is the case, how is it possible that with all the billions of dollars spent on Official Development Assistance (ODA), countries are still not advancing economically? To investigate this issue, this paper will examine three developing nations, Kenya, Cambodia, and Pakistan, that have received a significant amount of aid and observe how this has affected the country’s economy.