2009
October 2009
Official Development Aid grew significantly from 1992 to 2006; and transformed from mostly humanitarian aid and food assistance to financing the reforms and development of Tajikistan. In this case study, Rustam Aminjanov, Matin Kholmatov, and Firuz Kataev present Tajikistan's perspective of, experiences with, and challenges to foreign aid.
October 2009
Rapid growth in private development aid raises a host of questions regarding the allocation of aid and its selectivity across recipient countries. Raj Desai and Homi Kharas analyze giving patterns from two large, internet-based non-profit organizations and discuss the need for private and official aid partnerships.
August 2009
Pakistan has historically received large volumes of aid but it has also faced an increasingly difficult task of aid coordination. Abdul Malik examines aid quality and discusses its implication for the coordination and effectiveness of aid.
July 2009
The dilemma of what to do about aid fragmentation remains a challenge. In a new working paper, Johannes Linn discusses comprehensive approaches to aid coordination and how joint country assistance strategies could be an effective strategy.
April 2009
International aid has significantly impacted Ethiopia's development initiatives since the end of World War II, and Ethiopia has been a major recipient of foreign aid in recent times. Project consultant Getnet Alemu examines the country’s aid flows—predominantly assisting Ethiopia's health sector—and argues that although aid has been instrumental in the country's development, donor coordination has been challenging.
January 2009
Because foreign aid to Kenya is highly volatile and fragmented, efforts are being made to coordinate and harmonize aid allocations. Project consultant Francis M. Mwega analyzes these efforts and focuses on the health sector to compare and contrast trends and experiences. This case study highlights the innovations and competencies that have developed over time to respond to the challenges in development aid.
2008
December 2008
Cambodia received over $5 billion in development assistance within the past decade, yet the country faces unpredictable donor flows and duplication of technical cooperation and funding for more than 400 donor missions. Ek Chanboreth and Sok Hach from the Economic Institute of Cambodia analyze these challenges and the government’s actions to strengthen aid coordination and management systems—most notably by developing an online database to better coordinate official development assistance.
November 2008
On December 26, 2004, an earthquake followed by a devastating tsunami killed more than 150,000 people and displaced an estimated 700,000 inhabitants in Aceh, Indonesia. With unprecedented damage to the region, Aceh received an influx of aid and assistance—the largest reconstruction program in the developing world at the time. Project consultants Harry Masyrafah and Jock MJA McKeon analyze the aid effectiveness by examining the international community’s response to the disaster, challenges in reconstruction, and coordination of the aid agencies involved.
October 2008
Central Asia has attempted to strengthen its regional integration and cooperation since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Johannes Linn and Oksana Pidufala globally examine regional cooperation initiatives and organizations, and analyze functions and performance to draw lessons for the future success of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program.
October 2008
Scaling up—expanding, adapting, and sustaining successful projects, programs, or policies over time—can substantially reduce poverty. To improve the effectiveness of development programs, Arntraud Hartmann and Johannes Linn outline the key aspects that allow for scaling up to occur. This framework includes the implementation phases of development interventions—monitoring, evaluating, planning and effective management. Hartmann and Linn also reflect on lessons learned, case studies, and implications for aid and aid donors.
July 2008
Aid volatility, caused by various reasons including shifts in the donor’s economic and political landscape, can negatively affect development growth. Homi Kharas measures the cost of aid volatility using a financial metric, which if used by policymakers, can create a better system of aid flows and effective development. At times, recipient countries can incur negative income shocks, and Kharas calculates that in recent years about 16 billion USD in development assistance has been lost to aid volatility.
2007
November 2007
Antipoverty programs can significantly increase developing countries' incomes by means of "scaling up" small-scale programs Raj Desai, Brookings Visiting Fellow at the Wolfensohn Center for Development, explains. Desai provides insight as to how small development programs can expand over time and across geography while overcoming political and institutional challenges.
November 2007
By examining the trends in aid flows and the changing aid architecture, Homi Kharas, Brookings Visiting Fellow at the Wolfensohn Center for Development, discusses the shortfalls in the dissemination of billions of dollars in development assistance.