World Aid Research Articles

Reflection: Beyond Metaphor: Hunger and the Response-ability of Performance

The essay forms part of the Editorial of the concurrent issues of Performance Research and Global Performance Studies on the theme of Hunger, picking up from the 'Introduction' written by Laurie Beth Clark and Michael Peterson, co-editors of these issues. Styled as a conversation with key contributors to the journal issues, the keynote speakers in the PSi conference, and authors that inspired the initiative on hunger, Jazmin Llana recalls the contexts and prompts of the journal issues and the 2022 conference of Performance Studies international (PSi) from which many of the featured articles began. She identifies the challenges that hunger as a material condition poses to performance and performance studies, tracing key critical threads on the supposed 'unrepresentability' of hunger in performance and the critique of humanitarianism as a framework for hunger relief and world aid, among others. The reflection ends with possible ways forward in responding to hunger.

Reflection: Beyond metaphor

This article forms part of the Editorial of the concurrent issues of Performance Research and GPS on the theme of Hunger, picking up from the ‘Introduction’ written by Laurie Beth Clark and Michael Peterson, co-editors of these issues. Styled as a conversation with key contributors to the journal issues, the keynote speakers in the PSi conference and authors that inspired the initiative on hunger, Jazmin Badong Llana recalls the contexts and prompts of the journal issues and the 2022 conference of Performance Studies international (PSi) from which many of the featured articles began. She identifies the challenges that hunger as a material condition poses to performance and performance studies, tracing key critical threads on the supposed ‘unrepresentability’ of hunger in performance and the critique of humanitarianism as a framework for hunger relief and world aid, among others. The reflection ends with possible ways forward in responding to hunger.

Duration of the Membership in the World Trade Organization and Aid for Trade Flows

In examining the effect of membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the amounts of Aid for Trade (AfT) that accrue to developing countries, Lee et al. (2015) (The World Economy, 38, 2015 and 1462) have found that developing country members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) received higher AfT flows than non-WTO developing members. The present paper deepens the analysis by Lee et al. (2015) by investigating the effect of the duration of WTO membership on the amounts of AfT flows that accrue to recipient countries. The duration of membership in the WTO captures both the membership in the WTO and the time spent by a country in the organization. The main argument in this analysis is that the duration of WTO membership matters more than the mere WTO membership for the degree of liberalization in AfT recipient countries’ trade regimes and their participation in international trade, the latter being a critical determinant of the AfT flows supplied by donors. This analysis has relied on a panel dataset of 136 countries over the period from 2002 to 2019, and the two-step generalized method of moments estimator. It has established that countries receive higher AfT flows as their membership duration increases, and the amounts of these resource inflows increase as recipient countries further liberalize their trade regime and further participate in international trade. Additionally, the effect of the duration of WTO membership on total AfT flows depends on donor-countries’ commercial self-interest in recipient countries, including the latter’s economic growth performance and endowment in natural resources.

Poverty reduction strategies and national development in Nigeria

The study on poverty reduction strategies and national development in Nigeria sets out to evaluate the effectiveness of the poverty reduction strategies on improving national development of Nigeria between 1999 and 2015. The proposition of the study stated that poverty issues were endemically a political challenge and that poverty reduction strategies were merely a technical response that cannot reduce poverty. The qualitative research approach based on conceptual and normative analyses of data was adopted whilst the theoretical framework used was dependency theory. The study found that despite the several poverty reduction programmes embarked on, some multi-sectoral while others were sector specific, the poverty incidence in Nigeria was steadily on the increase thus validating the proposition that poverty reduction strategies of the World Bank and IMF are merely technical responses to a fundamentally political challenge. The study recommended that the World Bank, IMF, donor and aid agencies as well as the poor countries should understand the impact of politics on poverty as such emphasize political reforms alongside poverty reduction strategies in order to deal with poverty reduction in the Third World.

Sustainable practices and financial performance in fashion firms

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine the relationship between sustainable practices and financial performance in fashion firms.Design/methodology/approachA statistical analysis (fixed effects and ordinary least squares) of publicly available financial data combined with sustainable practices taken from the Baptist World Aid Australia Ethical Fashion Reports to determine if companies with better sustainable practices have significantly better financial performance.FindingsThe research shows that there is a strong positive correlation between sustainable practices and financial performance in fashion firms. There is stronger evidence that better sustainable practices lead to better financial performance and vice versa.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample size is limited to publicly available financial data and may not be generalized to all fashion firms. A quarter of firms were unresponsive to Baptist World Aid Australia's requests for information on sustainable practices creating potential selection bias.Social implicationsConsumers, employees, government and non-governmental organizations are advocates for greater corporate responsibility in fashion firms. Given the positive relationship between sustainable practices and return on equity, shareholders can be added to this list.Originality/valueThis research is the first to analyze objective financial performance with a range of sustainable indicators to determine if certain practices are more valuable than others.

Information, power, and location: World Bank staff decentralization and aid project success

AbstractUsing data on World Bank staff identity and field placement, this article examines the relationship between staff presence in recipient countries and aid project performance. I find that merely placing World Bank staff in developing countries has little effect on the success of development projects. Greater field decision rights are, however, associated with differential project performance. In the most fragile states, the presence of senior personnel (World Bank Country Directors) is associated with greater project success after the “Strategic Compact” increased Country Directors' power. However—consistent with a bargaining model in which greater World Bank authority is in tension with recipient country direction of projects—as countries become less fragile, the net effect of the presence of Country Directors becomes negative. The impact of World Bank staff decentralization is mixed and appears to be driven primarily by the power of senior personnel in the field, not the ability of field staff to gather local information.

Forging a Diagonal Instrument for the Global Left: The Vessel

This article takes up Samir Amin’s challenge to rethink the issue of global political organization by proposing the building of a diagonal political organization for the Global Left that would link local, national and world regional and global networks and prefigurational communities to coordinate contention for power in the world-system during the next few decades of the 21st century. The World Social Forum (WSF) process needs to be reinvented for the current period of rising neo-fascist and populist reactionary nationalism and to foster the emergence of a capable instrument that can confront and contend with the global power structure of world capitalism and aid local and national struggles. This will involve overcoming the fragmentation of progressive movements that have been an outcome of the rise of possessive individualism, the precariat, and social media. We propose a holistic approach to organizing a vessel for the global left based on struggles for climate justice, human rights, anti-racism, queer rights, feminism, sharing networks, peace alliances, taking back the city, progressive nationalism and confronting and defeating neo-fascism and new forms of conservative populism.

Forging a diagonal instrument for the global left: the vessel

ABSTRACTThis article takes up Samir Amin’s challenge to rethink the issue of global political organization by proposing the building of a diagonal political organization for the Global Left that would link local, national and world regional and global networks and prefigurational communities to coordinate contention for power in the world-system during the next few decades of the 21st century. The World Social Forum (WSF) process needs to be reinvented for the current period of rising neo-fascist and populist reactionary nationalism and to foster the emergence of a capable instrument that can confront and contend with the global power structure of world capitalism and aid local and national struggles. This will involve overcoming the fragmentation of progressive movements that have been an outcome of the rise of possessive individualism, the precariat, and social media. We propose a holistic approach to organizing a vessel for the global left based on struggles for climate justice, human rights, anti-racism, queer rights, feminism, sharing networks, peace alliances, taking back the city, progressive nationalism and confronting and defeating neo-fascism and new forms of conservative populism.

Addressing Rage: The Fast Fashion Revolt

Addressing Rage: The Fast Fashion Revolt

Development and Implementation of a Telemedicine Platform for Radiation Oncology Training and Peer Review

Background: Telemedicine has been posited as a potential means of bolstering radiation therapy delivery in developing nations. World Aid Exchange (WaidX) is an innovative intercontinental telemedicine platform oriented to oncology specialties. This platform, devoted to reducing the digital divide on health practice, provides telecommunication services between health care facilities in developed and developing countries. It conveys the ability to safely share radiologic images and patient medical records for diagnostic and care purposes. It was successfully piloted in Mwanza, Tanzania in 2015. Since then, it has been implemented in varied settings such as Ethiopia, Djibouti and Brazil. After conducting a site visit and a focused needs assessment, we recognized the need for teleconferencing with the Radiation Department of National Center of Oncology, Yerevan, Armenia, to share expertises in general patient management and contouring and planning for radiotherapy. Aim: To develop a TeleRadiotherapy platform that enables: 1: Conference calling for tumor boards to review radiotherapy plans, discuss disease management and conduct remote quality control 2: Real-time sharing of diagnostic images to guide clinical decision making 3: E-contouring activity performed by parties in Yerevan and New York on radiographic images, with minimization of time lag in contouring 4: Generation of a database for clinical data (i.e., radiation dose, toxicity, disease stage) that serves as a departmental registry and a tool for future research use 5: Access to lectures delivered by physicians, nurses, therapists and physicists both in Yerevan and New York on varied aspects of radiotherapy Methods: The initiative was funded through a competitive grant established within the Department of Radiation Oncology at Cornell. The TeleRadiotherapy system is comprised of 2 physical units, equipped to support networking and telephony integration. An application was used to establish a simplified direct connection between mobile phones in New York and fixed phone extensions in Yerevan. A customized version of Veyon was used for remote connection to a contouring station. Zoom was used to establish the teleconference. Remote operators in Weill Cornell Medicine were trained for using the system. Results: The first teleradiotherapy interaction between Yerevan and New York occurred on February 7th, 2018. Demonstration of contouring on the Oncentra treatment planning system in Yerevan revealed ease of use. The brush tool displayed less drag time than the point-by-point contouring tools. Diagnostic images were easily shared without compromise of the image resolution. Conference call quality was high. This conference has opened a series of biweekly chart rounds, between the two institutions. Conclusion: Teleradiotherapy is feasible with excellent voice quality, image sharing capability and real-time contouring. The database is under construction. We are developing a new model for learning, training and collaboration in radiotherapy using WaidX, to enable rapid knowledge and technology transfer for a more equitable access to high-quality cancer care worldwide.

Sound Practices of Disaster Risk Reduction at Local Level

Disaster risk reduction (DRR) is an important component for achieving sustainable development of cities, in particular when the world is steadily becoming more urbananised. Fast growing cities and urban areas of the world increase disaster risk due to economic growth and fast population expansion. With local governments increasingly taking an important role in the sustainable development, the need for globally comparable knowledge of disasters risks has even become greater. Sound practices that have been tested and implemented by different cities around the world aid knowledge sharing opportunities for future disaster risk reduction. Accordingly, this paper focuses on reported sound practices of local DRR and aims to provide a collection of sound practices on DRR actions at the local level and what needs to be done to reduce future disaster risks. Paper uses the ten essentials identified by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) in 2010 to illustrate some of the risk reduction work that has been undertaken across the world. The intent is to provide local governments and other institutions learn from one another by effectively facilitating the sharing of sound practices and disseminating these established sound practices in risk reduction.

Comparing the Impact of Globalization on the Industrialized and Non-Industrialized World Vis---Vis Achieving Sustainable Development

Globalization is all around us and it is here to stay, so we had better work towards recognizing it as an influence in today’s world. Also, globalization may be one of the moderating variables towards achieving sustainable development, which is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). That is, the more globalization is embraced the better our chances of reaching the goals of sustainable development. If less globalization (and more protectionism) is supported, the worse are our chances.With the fall of Communism, culminating with the end of the Soviet Union, with the Soviet leaders voting Communism out of existence in 1991; the Berlin wall being dismantled in 1989, further spurring the breakdown of the world’s trade barriers; bonding together of countries (EU, NAFTA, ASEAN, etc.); and, now, social media, there have been resulting increases in international business, multinational business, and globalized pursuits. Globalization can be seen as: “global competition characterized by networks that bind countries, institutions, and people in an interdependent global economy” (Deresky 2003).Will the benefits of globalization for the industrialized and non-industrialized world aid in the ultimate quest to achieve “sustainable development”?

From Recipient to Donor: The Case of Polish Developmental Cooperation

Research on development aid has focused on Western powers—the global South's 20th century colonial masters—largely ignoring the practices of donors who are not members of the West-dominated Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and its Development Assistance Committee (DAC). This article informs about the world of non-DAC donors, through examining Polish development aid and its sociocultural foundations. Since around 2000, Poland has been defined as an Emerging Donor. I argue that this category reflects contemporary shifts in global power relations and Poland's attempts to rearrange itself within the post-Cold War world order. For Poland, a country still battling its image as a Second World aid recipient detached from global relations, attempts to reverse the aid chain and constitute an effort to redefine its position within the global hierarchy of givers and receivers. This article explores how the modalities of Poland's international involvement as a donor are shaped by its past expe...

América Latina y El Caribe: Ayuda Oficial al Desarrollo en el punto de inflexión del milenio

<p>Los países de América Latina y El Caribe (ALC) han sido importantes receptores de aod desde la creación del Comité de Ayuda al Desarrollo de la ocde. No obstante, su participación en el sistema de ayuda se ha visto alterada en los primeros años del siglo XXI como consecuencia de los cambios introducidos en la agenda internacional de desarrollo. La estrategia de los odm concede especial atención a los países que retrasan la consecución universal de los objetivos, lo que motiva la reasignación de la ayuda desde los países de desarrollo intermedio hacia los países más pobres. En este contexto, dado el positivo avance de alc en los odm, el nuevo <em>mapamundi </em>de la ayuda aminora la importancia de la región. Este artículo analiza los flujos de aod desembolsados a alc desde 1990 y ofrece propuestas de reforma para construir un sistema de ayuda más eficiente, que compense la pérdida de volumen con incrementos en calidad.</p>

The ‘Humanitarian Frontline’, Development and Relief, and Religion: what context, which threats and which opportunities?

This paper examines the emergence of a humanitarian frontline in several operational contexts. Over the past 15 years, and since 2001 in particular, the international aid sector has been confronted by a climate of polarisation. With the traditional aid and donor landscape dominated by Western or Western-aligned parties who are sometimes involved in armed conflict too, aid organisations face the impact of the supposed or real instrumentalisation of development and relief in a wider security and geopolitical control agenda. At the same time Western or Western-associated secular development models that are often promoted by traditional aid have either encountered their limits or failed in several parts of the global periphery. The expanded space for religion resulting from globalisation and the social changes that it causes have also expanded the space for faith-based development and relief actors, especially in operational situations that have a large cultural and ideological dimension. The paper focuses on the Islamic world and Islamic faith-based aid, but several factors and trends discussed in it bear relevance for Christian faith-based aid and majority Christian parts of the global periphery as well.

Be Nice and Get Your Money—An Empirical Analysis of World Trade Organization Trade Disputes and Aid

Be Nice and Get Your Money—An Empirical Analysis of World Trade Organization Trade Disputes and Aid

Caring for 85 Years: Baptists and Baptist World Aid

Caring for 85 Years: Baptists and Baptist World Aid

AID TIED TO THE DONOR'S EXPORTS

Abstract. The existing theory of tied aid presupposes that trade and aid are conducted in terms of private consumption goods. However, in such a world aid can be effectively tied only if the recipient government somehow prevents its households from reselling the aid basket on world markets. That weakness of existing theory is here removed by extending the theory to accommodate non‐tradable public consumption goods. The most striking result of existing theory – that, even in a world of just two trading countries, the donor might benefit and the recipient suffer from the tying of aid – is preserved.

Bogus Refugees? The Determinants of Asylum Migration to Western Europe

This article analyzes the determinants of asylum migration to Western Europe. Potential asylum seekers balance the costs of staying versus the costs of migrating. Estimation results confirm that economic hardship and economic discrimination against ethnic minorities lead to higher flows of asylum seekers. However, political oppression, human rights abuse, violent conflict, and state failure are also important determinants. Migration networks and geographical proximity are important facilitators of asylum flows as predicted by theory and colonial experience, religious similarity, and casual contact with the developed world (aid, trade, and tourism) are not. Natural disasters and famines are also not statistically significant determinants. These events are typically short term and unexpected, whereas asylum migration to Western Europe requires preparatory planning. If Western European countries want to tackle the root causes of asylum migration, then they need to undertake policy measures that promote economic development, democracy, respect for human rights, and peaceful conflict resolution in countries of origin.

Book Reviews

Books reviewed: Ronaldo Munck, Contemporary Latin America Carmen Diana Deere and Magdalene León, Empowering Women: Land and Property Rights in Latin America Annelies Zoomers and Gemma van der Haar (eds), Current Land Policy in Latin America: Regulating Land Tenure under Neo‐liberalism Annelies Zoomers (ed.), Land and Sustainable Livelihood in Latin America Sudipta Kaviraj and Sunil Khilnani (eds), Civil Society: History and Possibilities Rajesh Tandon and Ranjita Mohanty (eds), Does Civil Society Matter? Governance in Contemporary India Ha‐Joon Chang, Globalization, Economic Development and the Role of the State Yilmaz Akyüz (ed.), Developing Countries and World Trade: Performance and Prospects George Monbiot, The Age of Consent: A Manifesto for a New World Order Paul Kennedy, Dirk Messner and Franz Nuscheler (eds), Global Trends and Global Governance Paulette Goudge, The Whiteness of Power: Racism in Third World Development and Aid John Clark (ed.), Globalizing Civic Engagement: Civil Society and Transnational Action Julian Le Grand, Motivation, Agency and Public Policy: Of Knights and Knaves, Pawns and Queens Richard Robison and Vedi R. Hadiz, Reorganising Power in Indonesia: The Politics of Oligarchy in an Age of Markets Sara Oldfield (ed.), The Trade in Wildlife: Regulation for Conservation Patricia L. Howard (ed.), Women & Plants: Gender Relations in Biodiversity Management and Conservation Ernest Aryeetey, Julius Court, Machiko Nissanke and Beatrice Weder (eds), Asia and Africa in the Global Economy Jane I. Guyer, Marginal Gains. Monetary Transactions in Atlantic Africa Amanda Hammar, Brian Raftopoulos and Stig Jensen (eds), Zimbabwe's Unfinished Business: Rethinking Land, State and Nation in the Context of Crisis D. John Shaw, Sir Hans Singer: The Life and Work of a Development Economist