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When rethinking public aid as a catalyst for development-oriented private investment, several elements need to be taken into account.

Although the MDGs have certainly facilitated progress in Africa’s development, sustaining this progress comes with national, regional and global challenges.

In spite of the ongoing euro crisis, which does not leave much space for an ambitious global agenda, the EU remains a major global development actor.

Donors are estimated to receive a return from development aid of 50–80%. To understand the financial effects of aid on donor countries, we need a new economic model.

We’ll start with a close-up of a woman on her knees. She seems to be scrubbing some tiles. We track back and see that in fact she’s scrubbing the tyre tracks off a forecourt.

As the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, to take place in Busan approaches, it is difficult to ignore that the global context has shaped the world of aid into a new ball game.

Aid effectiveness has come to be seen as an empty concept without national ownership being placed at its heart.  Yet, in too many aspects of the development field, the notion of national ownership runs up against notions of a set of "int…

Put national development plans at the center with clear exit strategies for external funding

Recently released OECD DAC data from the Paris Declaration Survey shows improvements in the ways the international community and partner countries deliver Official Development Assistance (ODA), but this progress has been highly variable. Only one…

Should the ‘aid effectiveness’ agenda be replaced by ‘development effectiveness’ principles

Talk is cheap. Results are what matter. That is the apparent consensus ahead of next month’s aid effectiveness summit in Busan, whose organizers promise “a clear focus on development results,” while sceptics worry about a lot of rhetoric and littl…

The future of development aid transparency – the case for including other public flows for development

The development aid universe has, over the past several years, been disrupted by the emergence of countries such as Brazil, China and India – that both receive substantial ODA and are building their own foreign aid programs. As these new programs…

The Broker, in cooperation with the OECD, invites you to contribute to this blog about the challenges of the coming HLF on aid effectivess at Busan. 

Canadian development has been in crisis since the 1990s. A lack of leadership and policy direction has impelled the development community to generate a series of studies calling for the reform of Canadian aid architecture.

Japan is feeling the tension, amid calls to increase the volume of its aid, between benefitting economically from its aid initiatives and adhering to global standards of development cooperation.

On 18 January 2025 the Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) presented its report long-awaiting report that promotes substantial changes in the organisation of Dutch aid as well as more structural attention for global public goods.

The UK’s New Labour government has been a vocal participant in international development debates. The Conservative party, should it come to power in 2010, promises to keep up the efforts.

As the holder of the G8 presidency, Italy will host the next G8 summit in July. The members will pledge support to developing countries to ease the impacts of the economic crisis. But with its poor aid record, does Italy have the legitimacy to lea…

Denmark was among the most generous aid donors from 1960 to 2000. A new government in 2001 reduced Danish assistance considerably and put more emphasis on security issues. Denmark now has a renewed focus on aid, particularly in Africa.

Switzerland is among the world’s richest countries, yet its government has been tight-fisted with development aid contributions. In 2008, parliament increased the aid budget, but many NGOs say it’s not enough.

Simon Maxwell is the director of the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) in London. He was one of the initiators of the ERD.