Aid Donors Research Articles

Restricting NGOs: From Pushback to Accommodation

Restricting NGOs: From Pushback to Accommodation

Political economy of aid allocation: The case of Arab donors

AbstractBy exploiting a unique data set on aid allocation by major Arab donors, this paper explores the relationship between aid allocation and the strategic alignment of donors with recipients as well as the developmental need of recipients. To motivate our empirical work, we first develop a new theory of aid allocation, wherein a representative donor country's payoff depends on both the well‐being of the representative recipient country as well as its strategic alignment with the donor. Our theoretical model suggests that there exists a positive relationship between donor's aid allocation and the geopolitical and cultural alignment of the recipient country. Our model also predicts that donors allocate more aid to recipient countries with higher levels of country capacity. To test the prediction of our theory empirically, we construct a new measure of geopolitical and cultural alignment for recipient countries by using principal component analysis. We employ this measure and a set of control variables to show that the geopolitical and cultural alignment of a recipient country and its capacity to implement development projects are the key determinants of aid allocation from the Arab donors.

Energy political ecologies in the South Pacific: the politics of energy transitions in Vanuatu

Abstract In this article, I develop a political ecology analysis of Vanuatu’s grid electricity policies, with a specific focus on Espiritu Santo Island. I show how the global political economy looms large in shaping the island’s energy geographies. Colonial legacies, ideologically conflictive donor aid programmes, multinational corporate legal discords, parliamentary political caprices and the vicissitudes of the local environment all intersect to shape the spatial dynamics of electricity access that raises numerous energy justice concerns. The development of the island’s electricity infrastructure is not neutral; rather, it is a socio-technical product of these political economy mediations.

Blockchain applications in humanitarian logistics

Disaster relief is a key aspect of humanism and humanitarian actions. The delivery of adequate supplies at the right time and right place is critical for survival and recovery of the affected people, animals, plants and other entities. Since every dollar counts towards saving a life, the traceability of the shipments must be ensured, and the organisations involved in the process need to be aware of the delivered items to avoid duplication of relief efforts. Responsive, efficient and transparent supply chains have been difficult to build and execute as many disasters occur in underdeveloped or developing countries with poor infrastructure, corruption and other challenges. This paper explores the application of blockchain technologies to create a database ledger that can assure traceability and reliability and also avoid duplication. The use of ‘smart contracts’, which can be automatically executed in a blockchain, to promote transparency in contracts and performance and the movement of money across all parties is also studied. Large organisations such as the United Nations (UN) or the World Health Organization (WHO), which often take the lead in organising the relief efforts, can initiate the development of blockchains for humanitarian logistics and draw manufacturers, transportation carriers, other logistics providers, banks and other partners into the blockchain network. Assuring both the aid donors and the recipients that the funds have been used wisely and transparently will expand future aid contributions and enable more effective relief to disaster areas. This is especially critical now as climate changes on our planet are expected to result in more disasters with extremely dire consequences, especially in poorer regions of the world.

“Flash blending” development finance: how to make aid donor–private sector partnerships help meet the SDGs

ABSTRACT Aid donors, development advocates, and finance experts increasingly look to the private sector to fill the estimated $2.5 trillion annual Sustainable Development Goals financing gap, an amount likely to increase due to effects of COVID-19. Donors use a variety of partnerships with the private sector to realise development objectives. We use the term donor–private partnerships (DPPs) to describe the broad range of arrangements between donors and private–sector actors. Using ODA to leverage private finance, innovation testing, or service delivery, modalities include blended finance, de-risking instruments, public–private partnerships, and more. Does the reality match donors’ enthusiastic rhetoric? There are success stories but civil society actors and others question whether private sector engagement in development reduces poverty and inequality, advances gender justice, and achieves environmental sustainability. There may be trade-offs between development and profit making. We present our research based on frameworks we developed to categorise and assess DPPs. We applied these to 20 partnerships involving nine donors and found that donors fail to sufficiently integrate development, human rights, and environmental standards. They inconsistently implement due diligence and risk management requirements, and impact assessments are inadequate. Our frameworks offer practitioners and academics valuable tools to examine how DPPs can advance sustainable development.

Donor Commitments and Disbursements for Sexual and Reproductive Health Aid in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

Background: Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) investments are critical to people's well-being. However, despite the demonstrated returns on investments, underfunding of SRHR still persists. The objective of this study was to characterize donor commitments and disbursements to SRH aid in four sub-Saharan countries of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia and to compare trends in donor aids with SRH outcome and impact indicators for each of these countries.Methods: The study is a secondary analysis of data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's Assistance creditor reporting system and SRH indicator data from the Global Health Observatory and country demographic health surveys for a 16-year period (2002–2017). We downloaded and compared commitments to disbursements of all donors for population policies, programs and reproductive health for the four African countries. SRH indicators were stratified into health facility level process/outcome indicators (modern contraceptive prevalence rate, unmet need for family planning, antenatal care coverage and skilled birth attendance) and health impact level indicators (maternal mortality ratio, newborn mortality rate, infant mortality rate and under five mortality rate).Results: Donor commitments for SRH aid grew on average by 20% while disbursements grew by 21% annually between 2002 and 2017. The overall disbursement rate was 93%. Development Assistance Cooperation (DAC) countries donated the largest proportion (79%) of aid. Kenya took 33% of total aid, followed by Tanzania 26%, Uganda 23% and then Zambia (18%). There was improvement in all SRH outcome and impact indicators, but not enough to meet targets.Conclusion: Donor aid to SRH grew over time and in the same period indicators improved, but improvement remained slow. Unpredictability and insufficiency of aid may be disruptive to recipient country planning. Donors and low- and middle-income countries should increase funding in order to meet global SRHR targets.

Economic Incentive to Ignore the Environment

The world environmental regime has influenced government policy and improved environmental conditions around the globe, but its influence on governance is sometimes decoupled from, or loosely connected with, actual practice. This article examines the influence of the environmental regime on foreign aid and proposes that economic incentive, in the form of FDI, is a source of decoupling between aid donors’ stated environmental goals and actual aid commitments. Using a three-dimensional panel design (donor × recipient × year), I test allocations of environmental protection and fossil fuel aid in a two-stage process where first the aid recipient is chosen, and then the aid amount. I find that although donor and recipient environmental regime integration are associated with higher likelihood of exchanging environmental aid, other factors (donor/recipient GDP, recipient democracy, etc.) determine the amount of aid. Regime integration does not reduce the likelihood of exchanging fossil fuel aid, but donor regime integration is associated with giving less fossil fuel aid, contingent on the donor’s level of FDI in the recipient nation. I conclude that the world environmental regime and the global economy exert contradictory pressures on aid organizations that result in policy–practice decoupling. The world environmental regime, therefore, has only been partially successful in improving foreign aid, and its effect is constrained by donors’ economic incentive to ignore environmental norms.

Estimating Chinese foreign health aid: an analysis of AidData's Global Chinese Official Finance dataset

BackgroundChinese global health aid has expanded tremendously since the 2000s. Unlike many donors, China has no official aid reporting obligations, nor does it voluntarily disclose detailed aid information. Therefore, several third parties have attempted to estimate China's health aid footprint. However, current estimates use varied definitions of health aid, geographic regions, and time spans. These distinct methodological approaches make comparisons of Chinese aid to other aid donors difficult. Our study builds on previous tracking efforts and improves on them by creating a standardised estimate using commonly accepted definitions of aid and frameworks for categorising health projects. MethodsWe categorised AidData's Chinese Official Finance Dataset health-related projects according to health aid frameworks from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). Only projects that fitted the definition of official development assistance were included. We analysed data by both total project count and financial value to assess priority health-aid focus areas for China. We also provide an updated estimate for projects with missing financial values in AidData's database by applying the median cost of similar projects to projects with missing financial values, allowing for comparison with other donors. FindingsBetween 2000 and 2014, China funded 620 health-related aid projects, which made up more than 20% of its total aid project portfolio. Most of these projects were located in Africa. According to the OECD framework, the priority focus areas of these 620 projects were: basic health care, such as medical teams, drugs, and medicine (n=244, 36%); malaria control (118, 19%); medical services, such as specialty equipment, infrastructure and services (108, 17%); and basic health infrastructure (78, 13%). According to the IHME framework, health-systems strengthening accounted for 70% (n=434) of total projects, primarily due to China's contributions to human resources for health, infrastructure, and equipment. The only other significant allocation under the IHME framework was malaria (n=118, 19%). When we estimate missing financial values, we noted that China was the fourth largest health aid donor to African countries from 2008–2014, after the USA, UK, and Canada. InterpretationThese findings enable a better understanding of Chinese health aid in the absence of transparent aid reporting. Such understanding could lead to better coordination, collaboration, and resource allocation for both fellow donors and recipient countries. FundingHuang Fellows Program, Duke University Science & Society (PK).

Does energy aid reduce CO2 emission intensities in developing countries?

ABSTRACT Whether energy aid contributes to the reduction of CO2 emissions in developing countries is an unresolved question. We investigate whether the OECD Development Assistance Committee members’ energy aid can help reduce CO2 emission intensities in 64 recipient countries over the period 1995–2014. We find that once lagged energy aid – when measured in terms of once lagged GDP, in absolute terms, or in terms of once lagged total sectoral aid – is effective in reducing the recipients’ subsequent CO2 emission intensities. Importantly, we find highly varied effects of energy aid on the recipients’ CO2 emission intensities – fossil fuel-rich (poor) countries stand to benefit least (most) from receiving energy aid. Our findings point towards the merit of energy aid as a policy tool in achieving the CO2 emission reduction goals and the necessity for bilateral aid donors to take into account the recipients’ fossil fuel abundance when making provisions for energy aid.

Narratives and interpretations of the political economy of Zimbabwe’s development aid trajectory, 1980–2013

The purpose of this conceptual study is to analyse the political economy of Zimbabwe’s development aid trajectory from 1980 to 2013. The discussion unfolds around four historical epochs: colonial legacy, land and independence from 1980 to 1990; the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP) 1991–2000; The Multi-Party Democracy period 2001–2008 and the Government of National Unity (GNU) 2008–2013. In doing so, the discourse offers a critical discussion of the factors that have characterised the flow of aid to Zimbabwe. It also explores the historical, socio-economic and political events that shaped development policies and outcomes in Zimbabwe from 1980 to 2013. The study also explores the scale, interaction and impact of aid flow to Zimbabwe. This study is purely qualitative and uses documentary reviews as part of the literature review to extrapolate the relevant data. In this study, we argue that the flow of aid is politically motivated. The study recommends that the Zimbabwean government should come up with a robust aid coordination policy in order to fully guide the inflow of donor aid.

Grading foreign aid agencies: Best practices across traditional and emerging donors

AbstractDespite the rapid growth of non–Development Assistance Committee (DAC) emerging donors, these non‐traditional donors are historically left out of the discussion on aid effectiveness. In this paper, we provide the first full evaluation of aid agency best practices across multiple agency categories. We rank and compare DAC donors, emerging non‐DAC donors, and multilateral and UN agencies in the following five best practice categories: transparency, overhead costs, aid specialization, selective allocation, and effective delivery channels. Contrary to public impressions that emerging donors engage in worse practices, we find that non‐DAC agencies rank similarly to DAC donors: Both groups are equally poor performers. Emerging donors engage in less aid fragmentation across countries and use fewer ineffective delivery channels. Traditional DAC donors, however, provide more transparent reporting. Overall, we find that multilateral agencies and UN donors outperform both DAC and non‐DAC bilateral agencies. Collectively, our results suggest that most aid donors do not meet their own standards for best practices, and this finding is not unique to emerging donors. We highlight how our results reflect the broader political economy of aid allocation.

“ AFRICAN OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE (ODA) DEMAND AND POLICY DIRECTIONIN THE POST-CORONA ERA.”

This study is based on a social network analysis of newspaper articles relating to the Corona pandemic contained in the African daily newspaper African News. The aim of the study is to analyse what life-changes have been brought about in Africa as a result of the Corona pandemic, so that this information can be used in official development assistance policies for Africa. For this purpose, a text network analysis method was used. As a result of the analysis, the life-changes experienced by African residents as a consequence of the Corona pandemic are summarized into five broad categories. The five topics are: the Government’s countermeasures against the virus; recovery measures in African countries; measures relating to personal health; Government measures relating to schools; and an increase in the number of deaths from Coronavirus. After the Coronavirus pandemic, the ​​aid that should be provided most urgently to Africa is in the fields of health and education. It is hoped that aid donors will refer to the points found in this analysis and reflect them in their aid policy.

Analyzing the impact of agricultural donor aid on food security in West Africa

Despite the abundance of agricultural donor aid to the less-developed nations, especially in West African countries, little is known regarding its role in enhancing food security. This study argues that the flow of aid to the productive sector would have a sustainable impact since it has a multiplier effect on the recipient countries by enhancing productivity in the agricultural sector. Therefore, by filling this gap, the research aims to analyze the impact of agricultural donor aid on food security in 16 West African countries between 2009-2018. The study adopted quantitative cross-country panel data and utilized the Two-Stage Least Square Regression model (2SLS) to examine to what extent agricultural aid has impacted food security in the sub-region. This method was adopted to address the endogeneity problems in this research model specification, where it is assumed that there is a reverse causality between donor aid and food security. The findings indicate that agricultural aid has impacts on food accessibility, and utilization in West Africa. This impact is based on good governance and the institutional qualities of recipient countries.

Momentum for policy change: alternative explanations for the increased interest in results-based financing in Uganda

ABSTRACT Background Results-based financing initiatives have been implemented in many countries as stand-alone projects but with little integration into national health systems. Results-based financing became more prominent in Uganda’s health policy agenda in 2014–2015 in the context of the policy imperative to finance universal health coverage. Objective To explore plausible explanations for the increased policy interest in the scale-up of results-based financing in Uganda. Methods In this qualitative study, information was collected through key informant interviews, consultative meetings (2014 and 2015) and document reviews about agenda-setting processes. The conceptual framework for the analysis was derived from the work of Sabatier, Kingdon and Stone. Results Four alternative policy arguments can explain the scale-up of results-based financing in Uganda. They are: 1) external funding opportunities tied to results-based financing create incentives for adopting policies and plans; 2) increased expertise by Ministry of Health officials in the implementation of results-based financing schemes helps frame capacity accumulation arguments; 3) the national ownership argument is supported by increased desire for alignment and fit between results-based financing structures and legitimate institutions that manage the health system; and 4) the health systems argument is backed by evidence of the levers and constraints needed for sustainable performance. Shortages in medicines and workforce are key examples. Overall, the external funding argument was the most compelling. Conclusion The different explanations illustrate the strengths and the vulnerability of the results-based financing policy agenda in Uganda. In the short term, donor aid has been the main factor shifting the policy agenda in favour of results-based financing. The high cost of results-based financing is likely to slow implementation. If results-based financing is to find a good fit within the Ugandan health system, and other similar settings, then policy and action are needed to improve system readiness.

Factors Affecting the Sustainability of Microfinance Institutions: A Case of Malawi Microfinance Institutions

Background: Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) have been used as a tool for poverty alleviation in many developing economies globally, including Malawi. However, their sustainability in many countries has been dependent solely on loan repayment, donor aid, and subsidies. Aim: This study aimed at investigating the factors that influence the sustainability of MFIs in Malawi. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted from November to December 2020 among the MFIs employees in the central region of Malawi. Convenience and purposive sampling techniques were used to collect data online using a google form sent via social media platforms. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS software with Statistical significance placed at 0.05. Results: 120 respondents completed the survey representing 79.3% response rate, of which 63% were male. The majority of the respondents fell within the age group of 31 - 40 years, representing 58%, having attained universities and vocational colleges’ education level, representing 32.8%. With an experience of above 16 years, representing 41.2% of which were branch managers, representing 49.6%. The results of the ordinary least square regression indicated that reporting and loan management system (RLMS) (β = 0.200, P = 0.021), corporate-governance (β = 0.257, P = 0.004), and commercialization (β = 0.161, P = 0.047) were positively significantly influencing the sustainability of MFI. On the other hand, loan design/type (β = -0.211, P = 0.006), loan portfolio management (β = -0.179, P = 0.050) were found to be negatively impacting the MFI. Lastly, variables of over-indebtedness (B = 0.077, P = 0.426), loan disbursement (β = 0.121, P = 0.104) were found statistically insignificant. Conclusion: Our study argues that through commercialization, standardized reporting, and effective loan portfolio management systems, stakeholder-based approach to corporate governance, and favored board independence through scale and cost management is critical to improving MFIs financial sustainability.

Review: Promoting Democracy: The Force of Political Settlements in Uncertain Times, by Manal A. Jamal

Review: <i>Promoting Democracy: The Force of Political Settlements in Uncertain Times</i>, by Manal A. Jamal

The Rise of Asian Aid Donors: Recipient-to-Donor Transition and Implications for International Aid Regime

The aims of this article are twofold. First, from a historical perspective, it examines the recipient-to-donor transition of five Asian aid donors, namely Japan, Korea, China, India, and Thailand. Specifically, it examines the evolution of their foreign aid programs and practices. Second, it analyzes the effects of Asian aid donors on the international aid regime. We argue that the mix of economic and security goals, which motivated Asian donors to develop their initial economic cooperation programs, have persisted over time. This explains why Asian aid donors have allotted a disproportionate share of their assistance to neighboring countries and their use of foreign aid as a key tool of their commercial and diplomatic policies. Moreover, we contend that the rise and experience of Asian aid donors have created a new dynamic to donor–recipient partnerships and development cooperation like new approaches and modalities. Key findings of this study add to the growing literature on emerging donors and aid effectiveness debate.

LAW AND DEVELOPMENT REFLECTION IN RUSSIA: PERSPECTIVES OF THE THEORY AND FIELD POLICY

Abstract: the article presents some aspects of the Law and Development doctrine in Russia. Systematic study of the interaction of law and socio-economic development began in western (mainly American) legal science in the second half of the XX century. Various factors, such as decolonization, the beginning of the cold war, and the scientific and technological revolution, contributed to the emergence of this field of knowledge. As a result of the decolonization process, many independent states emerged and were included in the group of developing countries. Then to achieve the goals of economic growth in underdeveloped countries, western countries have introduced mechanisms for the provision of foreign aid using a variety of mechanisms (investment, transfer of technologies, values, practices, etc.). In the Soviet Union instead of the term "international assistance", the concept of economic cooperation was used. After the collapse of the USSR, Russia became a recipient of international aid for a decade and a half. The study presents the work of various international institutions, development agencies, and groups of industry experts in Russia. In the second half of the 2000s, Russia returned to the circle of international aid donors. In order to promote international development, relevant legal acts have been adopted, the national concept of development assistance has been formed, and mechanisms for its implementation have been established.

Transitioning from Health Aid: A Scoping Review of Transition Readiness Assessment Tools

Many countries are now transitioning away from donor aid for health as they move from low- to middle-income status and see improved health outcomes. To promote better planning and preparedness for transition, many transition readiness assessment tools (TRAs) have been developed in recent years. The goal of this study was to identify and review existing TRAs to better understand the current landscape of how such tools are being used and the potential gaps among the currently available tools. There are several key limitations among existing tools. There are also many areas of overlap between tools, as well as clear gaps among the current tools available. For example, limited consideration has been given to emerging challenges for transitioning countries, such as demographic and disease transitions (e.g., aging populations and a shift in the burden of disease from infections to non-communicable diseases). Many critical health interventions, including vaccines and maternal and child health services, are ignored by current TRAs. Donors are the financial and technical “drivers” of all the TRAs, and so these tools are not being shaped by transitioning countries themselves. Therefore, it is difficult to determine whether or not the TRAs as designed will address the most critical needs of transitioning countries. Additionally, the role that in-country stakeholders are expected to play in the assessment process is not clearly defined and the methodologies of TRAs are not publicly available, thereby potentially limiting their usefulness to users.

Transitioning from donor aid for health: perspectives of national stakeholders in Ghana

BackgroundGhana’s shift from low-income to middle-income status will make it ineligible to receive concessional aid in the future. While transition may be a reflection of positive changes in a country,...