Whilst aid experts from all around the world prepare to go to Accra to discuss how aid can be made more effective, three writers (Tandon, Glennie and Warah) are preparing to launch/ have just launched new books, all of which argue that poor countries need to become less dependent on aid. Read the rest of this entry »
The Colombian government appears to have found a new policy document of choice. Rather than arriving at donor-recipient meetings armed with the latest dossier of stats showing how dreamily everything is going, government officials now turn up brandishing the Paris Declaration. Colombian NGOs are confused and rather nervous. Instead of discussing how to make a frustratingly slow process work better (which is what seems to be happening in many other countries), they have been left wondering whether they need a strategy to mitigate the damage the Declaration could do to civil society’s already limited room to manoeuvre. Why? How has Colombian civil society found itself on the wrong side of Paris? Read the rest of this entry »
Even if I am not a free-trader, I recognize the benefits that societies attain through international trade, especially when economies are small. If they are consumers, citizens can enjoy goods that their country does not produce. If they are economic actors, they can sell and buy at different prices than in national markets. This somehow simple view applies almost everywhere. Most livestock markets in West Africa are near to borders and the integration process help the traders to trade easily and citizens to get more easily what they need (sugar, wheat, goats, cows, etc…). However, open economies gives rise to more risky markets. What is imported competes with national production and what is exported leaves the national economy.
The European Union has registered its formal objections to the latest draft of the Accra agenda for action (dated 25th July), or so we have heard - with up to a dozen specific objections. Meanwhile it is thought that developing country governments, although very disappointed with the latest draft are getting increasingly disillusioned with the process. The US appears to be effectively using its influence over the World Bank to ensure strong position from across the Atlantic to water down the outcomes for the High Level Forum in just three weeks time. Read the rest of this entry »
For those of use who have these enduring questions burning from within, now is the time to let them out! The International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie, pronounced “triple-I-E”) would like to hear them, and may even finance the evaluation to find the answer. Read the rest of this entry »
“Seizing the opportunity on AIDS and health systems“, a report just released by the Center for Global Development, takes a good look at the effect of three vertical funds: PEPFAR, the Global Fund and the World Bank Africa Multi-Country AIDS Program on the health systems in three countries: Mozambique, Uganda and Zambia. Given the levels of funding for AIDS over the past decade, it is worthwhile to take a step back and consider the larger implications of so much money in countries where health systems lack basic resources. Read the rest of this entry »
The latest draft of the Accra agenda for (in)action is out. But don’t hold your breath. The Consensus Group (unfortunately the group is living up to its name) has managed to agree a lowest common denominator consensus. To say that they have negotiated the current draft would be misleading, “negotiated away” perhaps more accurate. Indeed most developing countries and indeed many donors are reportedly not happy with the text, and hopefully several will be registering their objections before Tuesday’s deadline (5th August) Read the rest of this entry »
Well, that is not exactly the question, but a new book by Johnnie Glennie “The trouble with Aid” asks whether we are missing the point by putting too much of our energy into campaigning for more aid. Everyone agrees we want better aid, but should there be more or less, and does it do any good? This debate has kicked off again both on the Guardian’s Katine blog and betweeen Glennie and Oxfam’s Duncan Green, author of another new book From Poverty to Power on the latter’s blog.
Sometimes life is funnier than art. When it comes to the wacky, out of control scenarios collectively cooked up by aid donors, the results can be mentally challenging in written text and visually ludicrous in image. Flow charts on drugs, hyped-up organigrammes, diagrams gone wild abound when analysing aid. Read the rest of this entry »
Originally published on www.eurodad.org
The first United Nations Development Cooperation Forum (DCF) took place in the first week of July in New York. It was preceded by preparatory meetings in January 2008 in Cairo, and in mid-June in Rome. The main topic was reforming aid. Can it deliver where other institutions have struggled? Read the rest of this entry »
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