Problems Promises And Paradoxes Of Aid

This book is an anthology of essays contributing new scholarship to the contemporary discourse on the concept of aid. It provides an interdisciplinary investigation of the role of aid in African development, compiling the work of historians, political scientists, legal scholars, and economists to examine where aid has failed and to offer new perspectives on how aid can be made more effective. Questions regarding the effectiveness of aid are addressed here using specific case studies. The question of ownership is examined in the context of two debates: 1) to what extent should aid be designed by the recipient country itself? and 2) should aid focus on “need” or “performance”? That is, should donors direct aid to the poorest countries, regardless of their policies and governance, or should aid “reward” countries for doing the right thing? The future of aid is also addressed: should aid continue to be a part of the development agenda for countries in sub-Saharan Africa? If so, how much and what type of aid is needed, and how it can be made most effective? The major criticism against aid is that it cripples the recipient country’s economic growth by turning it into a passive receiver; in addition, it has been noted that aid is mostly supply-driven, depending upon donors rather than the actual needs of recipients. For this reason, aid may not meet the goals for which it was intended. To meet the needs of the communities they want to help, donors should work through consultation and a measure of recipient ownership. Donors need to understand context, to protect human rights, and to be guided by principles of social and environmental justice. Other suggested strategies for making aid more effective include peer review; self-assessment; the empowerment of women; encouraging accountability; investing in agriculture; helping smallholder subsistence farmers; introducing ethical and professional standards for civil service; and raising the competence of civil servants.

This book explores what attracts people to aidwork and to what extent the promises of aidwork are fulfilled. 'Aidland' is a highly complex and heterogeneous context which includes many different occupations, forms of employment and organizations. Analysing the processes that lead to the involvement in development cooperation, emergency relief and human rights work and tracing the pathways into and through Aidland, the book addresses working and living conditions in Aidland, gender relations and inequality among aid personnel and what impact aidwork has on the life-courses of aidworkers. In order to capture the trajectories that lead to Aidland a biographical perspective is employed which reveals that boundary crossing between development cooperation, emergency relief and human rights is not unusual and that considering these fields as separate spheres might overlook important connections. Rich reflexive data is used to theorize about the often contradictory experiences of people working in aid whose careers are shaped by geo-politics, changing priorities of donors and a changing composition of the aid sector. Exploring the life worlds of people working in aid, this book contributes to the emerging sociology and anthropology of aidwork and will be of interest to professionals and researchers in humanitarian and development studies, sociology, anthropology, political science and international relations, international social work and social psychology.

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- List of figures -- List of tables -- Notes on contributors -- Preface -- Note on names and transcriptions -- List of abbreviations -- 1 Global change: Japan's role in the making of a new aid architecture -- 2 The peculiarities of Japan's ODA and the implications for African development -- 3 Aligning policy with practice: Japanese ODA and normative values -- 4 The development cooperation paradigm under the "new partnership" and its implications for Japan's aid -- 5 The securitization of Japan's ODA: new strategies in changing regional and domestic contexts -- 6 The US pivot to Asia and Japan's Development Cooperation Charter -- 7 Japanese ODA and the challenge of Chinese aid in Africa -- 8 The changing global aid architecture: an opportunity for Japan to play a proactive global role? -- 9 Comparing Japan and the European Union: the development cooperation policies of two civilian powers -- 10 Network-based development cooperation as a way forward for Japan -- 11 The impact of public opinion on Japan's aid policy: before and after the New Development Assistance Charter -- 12 An Asian aid paradigm: Japan leading from behind -- Index.

Rethinking Ownership of Development in Africa demonstrates how instead of empowering the communities they work with, the jargon of development ownership often actually serves to perpetuate the centrality of multilateral organizations and international donors in African development, awarding a fairly minimal role to local partners. In the context of today’s development scheme for Africa, ownership is often considered to be the panacea for all of the aid-dependent continent’s development woes. Reinforced through the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the Accra Agenda for Action, ownership is now the preeminent procedure for achieving aid effectiveness and a range of development outcomes. Throughout this book, the author illustrates how the ownership paradigm dictates who can produce development knowledge and who is responsible for carrying it out, with a specific focus on the health sectors in Burkina Faso and Kenya. Under this paradigm, despite the ownership narrative, national stakeholders in both countries are not producers of development knowledge; they are merely responsible for its implementation. This book challenges the preponderance of conventional international development policies that call for more ownership from African stakeholders without questioning the implications of donor demands and historical legacies of colonialism in Africa. Ultimately, the findings from this book make an important contribution to critical development debates that question international development as an enterprise capable of empowering developing nations. This lively and engaging book challenges readers to think differently about the ownership, and as such will be of interest to researchers of development studies and African studies, as well as for development practitioners within Africa.

This book, based on components of Drama for Life, addresses the subject of “innovative methods for applied drama and theatre practice in African contexts”. It does so by providing chapters that share the rich, multilayered, and reflexive work that has taken place at Drama for Life from 2008 to the present day. It invites the reader to learn from the experiences of Drama for Life as shared by the authors, understand the role it has played and continues to play in advocating for, and extending the work of, Applied Drama and Theatre practice, and engage in critical, dialogical spaces to examine and interrogate current debates and practices in the field of Applied Drama and Theatre. The volume is invaluable for anyone interested in the extensive body of work generated by Drama for Life and its innovative approaches to learning and teaching, as well as performing arts practitioners, artists, teachers, people in community development and service work, and anyone involved in researching Applied Drama and Theatre practice, particularly in an African context, but also globally.

Foreign Aid: Policy and Practice offers a complete overview of the basics of foreign aid. Who is it for? Who pays for it? Why does it exist? What is it spent on? How much is it? And most important, does it work? The aid debate has been flooded by academic studies and popular books that either challenge or champion the effectiveness of aid. Most presume that the reader already knows the basic facts and characteristics of the aid industry. This book provides readers with a comprehensive summary of the background, actors, core principles and policies, and intended (and unintended) outcomes of foreign aid, followed by a more informed and balanced treatment of the key controversies and trends in aid today. Drawing on the author’s 25 years’ experience in development practice and 15 years in teaching, the book reflects on recent efforts to accelerate aid’s impact and concludes by taking a look at the future of aid and the headwinds it will face in the first half of the 21st century. Perfect for university teaching at advanced undergraduate and graduate levels, this book will also encourage development practitioners, policy makers, and members of the public to engage in more informed debates about aid and development finance.

Humanitarian aid workers increasingly remain present in contexts of violence and are injured, kidnapped, and killed as a result. Since 9/11 and in response to these dangers, aid organizations have fortified themselves to shield their staff and programs from outside threats. In Aid in Danger, Larissa Fast critically examines the causes of violence against aid workers and the consequences of the approaches aid agencies use to protect themselves from attack. Based on more than a decade of research, Aid in Danger explores the assumptions underpinning existing explanations of and responses to violence against aid workers. According to Fast, most explanations of attacks locate the causes externally and maintain an image of aid workers as an exceptional category of civilians. The resulting approaches to security rely on separation and fortification and alienate aid workers from those in need, representing both a symptom and a cause of crisis in the humanitarian system. Missing from most analyses are the internal vulnerabilities, exemplified in the everyday decisions and ordinary human frailties and organizational mistakes that sometimes contribute to the conditions leading to violence. This oversight contributes to the normalization of danger in aid work and undermines the humanitarian ethos. As an alternative, Fast proposes a relational framework that captures both external threats and internal vulnerabilities. By uncovering overlooked causes of violence, Aid in Danger offers a unique perspective on the challenges of providing aid in perilous settings and on the prospects of reforming the system in service of core humanitarian values.

The Promise and Perils of " Silence" or " Temoignage" During Humanitarian Crises provides readers with a nuanced study of what happens when historical and 21st century medical humanitarian communities, armed with their idealistic rhetorics, choose whether to speak out or remain silent during various military or medical crises. The author uses a series of case studies from the late nineteenth century to the early twenty-first century to illustrate the politicized nature of these decisions. Unlike some that focus on the prescriptive need to follow certain universal medical humanitarian principles during crises, this book highlights the precarious nature of what some scholars call “medical advocacy/witnessing” or what the French call “témoignage.” The author argues that regardless of whether we are talking about lack of action during colonial crises or the Holocaust, it is oftentimes the lack of political will that determines how like “neutrality” or “impartiality” are interpreted. The book also acquaints readers with some of the challenges that have been recently posed to the “new” humanitarian Doctors Without Borders personnel, who have witnessed the targeting of medical hospitals and clinics. What researchers call the weaponization of medical care affects many in need living in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, or Syria. The author concludes the book by underscoring the point that it is the presence or absence of political will, and not the inherent epistemic value of medical humanitarian principles, that dictates when this advocacy succeeds or fails.