This Working Paper has its origin in the ODI project 'Southern Voices for Change in the International Aid System'. The original draft served as the basis for discussion at a workshop organised by ODI in November 2005, with collaborators from Africa, Asia and Latin America, as well as representatives from the donor community and from Northern-based NGOs. Drawing on comments made by Southern CSO representatives involved in the project, the paper aims to provide an analysis of the forces shaping the structure and operations of the international aid system. It examines current (mostly Northern) perceptions of problems inherent in and reforms necessary to the aid architecture, and explores Southern responses to this, focusing particularly on views and proposals from civil society organisations (CSOs) based in the South.
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ActionAid International (AAI) and CARE have recently come together to understand how trends in official aid are affecting civil society – particularly local NGOs in the countries where AAI and CARE work, but also international NGOs. Direct Budget Support (DBS) is a trend that could have significant implications for funding to civil society organisations and for the space in which these organisations can engage with donor agencies and governments.
Collaborative research into the impact of budget support in CSOs is currently being undertaken by joint AAI and CARE research teams in Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Sierra Leone. Individual country reports will be published in May 2006, and a synthesis report in June.
The research will focus on DFID (as well as 2-3 other `like-minded’ donors in each country, taking account of the multi-donor nature of DBS), as DFID is playing a key role in promoting certain aid delivery mechanisms, including DBS.
How to contact the project:
ActionAid International and CARE would like to hear from anyone who is interested in the impact of Budget Support on local and international NGOs or would like to know more about our research. Contact:
Melissa Hall at ActionAid International (Melissa.Hall@actionaid.org)
Zaza Curran at CARE UK (curran@careinternational.org).
In this article Julius Kapwepwe Mishambi, Programme Officer for the Uganda Debt Network, examines the consequences for the the Ugandan government’s budget support programme of from reduced donor funding. Citing recent progress in Kenya with neither aid or loans from the World Bank, he argues that Africa needs to break free of the 'donor dependency syndrome' and become more independent from donor aid.
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Based on a wide range of civil society experience, this paper sets out 11 Benchmarks calling on the leaders of the international community to take bold and decisive action when they meet in New York in September.
This article. from the Star Business Report, Daily Star, 20 July 2004 documents the group of 10 non-governmental and voluntary organisations which criticised the Asian Development Bank (ADB) alleging that the Manila-based lending institution had promoted poverty through its development policies.
