Forum for the Future of Aid - Asia Pacific

Country Study, prepared for Southern Perspectives on the Reform of the International Development Architecture - Vietnam

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 10:11:42 +0000

By Nguyen Thi Thu Hang

This study shows the important role that aid has played in supporting Vietnam’s impressive growth and poverty reduction; but that its importance is decreasing relative to other sources of development finance such as FDI and remittances. It describes the Government of Vietnam’s strong ownership of the development process, examines the roles of key multilateral and bilateral donor institutions, and makes recommendations on reform that will further strengthen ownership. The paper was produced for the Southern Perspectives research project

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The Role of IMF in Policy Making in Bangladesh

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 15:52:49 +0000

Source: Unnayan Onneshan

Unnayan Onneshan organized a round table discussion on “The Role of IMF in Policy Making in Bangladesh” at CIRDAP auditorium on 20th October, 2007. Md. Iqbal Ahmed presented a paper on the issue. Ahmed showed the effect of IMF policies with empirical data and ended with questioning its role. Mr Ahmed argued that when Bangladesh needed an investment friendly environment to generate employment and output to eradicate poverty, the IMF advised the government to tightly manage demand and offered policy advice which was contradictory, which has destabilised the economy with low investment, low capital formation, low output and low employment thus leading to staglation. At the same time the IMF's advice to cut public spending has further marginalised the poor.

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Technical Assistance and Capacity Development in an Aid-dependent Economy: the Experience of Cambodia

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 15:32:39 +0000

Source: Cambodia Development Research Institute

Cambodia is aid-dependent: the scale of aid is of such magnitude that it distorts the economy in two important ways. First, a high proportion of Cambodia’s best-educated people either work for donor agencies or international non-government organisations (NGOs) or have been assigned to donors’ projects as counterparts. This raises the price of educated labour and hinders the development of skill-intensive production and exports. Second, donors and NGOs have virtually taken over the funding of education, health care, social welfare, rural development etc., while government spends most of its funds on defence and security. In addition, donor funding eases pressure on government both to increase collection of revenue and to raise the salaries of government employees because so many top- and mid-level officials receive salary supplements as project counterparts.

To what extent can external technical assistance develop the capacity of counterparts, whether in government or in local NGOs, in an aid-dependent economy of this kind? In 1998 and 1999, CDRI undertook extensive research to answer this question. As well as analysing data from the Cambodian Rehabilitation and Development Board, CDRI researchers undertook wide-ranging interviews with senior officials in government and donor agencies, and with past and present technical advisers and counterparts. The research also included case studies of the School of Agriculture Prek Leap (SAPL), the National Institute of Management (NIM), the National Institute of Statistics (NIS), and of HIV/AIDS and malaria programmes (in particular, those in Battambang province).

Cambodia’s experience since 1993 suggests that, although some positive results have been achieved in the development of individual capacity, most projects in such a situation are donor-driven in their identification, design and implementation, to the detriment of institutional capacity development. Connected with this is the chronic under-funding of government in such an economy, which hinders implementation of projects and threatens post-project financial sustainability. Most former counterparts have either left government or are only part-time government employees. They still benefit the economy, but it is presumably not the main intention of technical assistance to prepare government officers for non-government work. Unless donors develop a coherent strategy (rather than competitive, project-related salary supplementation) to deal with this situation, the record of TA in developing the capacity of government will continue to be disappointing, and an escape from aid dependence will be postponed.

The basis for discussions between government and donors about a code of conduct for technical assistance is suggested, including: the replacement of project-related salary supplementation by a sector-wide salary fund; two-way transparency; implementation through intermediary organisations; government ownership of projects; guidelines for the use of technical advisers by government departments; re-examination of the concept of Project Implementation Units; a rule that no external projects should by-pass government structures; and a definition of the role of government, as a facilitator, prudential regulator and coordinator of technical assistance, rather than detailed controller. Such a code would be seen as a first step towards developing a Sector Wide Approach to technical assistance in Cambodia."

World Bank officials shy away from participation

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 11:56:37 +0100

Source: Focus on the Global South

The four day Independent Peoples Tribunal (IPT) on the World Bank in India concluded on September 25th hearing numerous depositions indicting the Bank's policy and project interventions in India. While the World Bank India office did engage with the IPT and claimed they would make a deposition to respond to some of the evidence against the Bank,they failed to show up despite provision of adequate space and time by the organisers.

In its preliminary findings, the IPT observed the Bank had an undue and disturbingly negative influence in shaping India's national policies disproportionate to its contribution, financial or otherwise. While India is the world's largest single cumulative recipient of World Bank assistance, with lending totaling about $60 billion (Rs. 2,40,000 crores) since 1944, current annual borrowing amounts to less than 1% of the country's GDP ( In 2005, India's annual borrowing from the World Bank for new projects was 0.45% of GDP)

The loans however has been used as leverage to bring about important policy changes and impose conditionalities in areas such as governance reform, health, education, electricity, water and environment- many of these with obvious political and social consequences. The loans also legitimize substantial additional funding from a diversity of bilateral and multilateral donors such as the Asian Development Bank and Department for International Development (DFID-UK). The Bank's loans have caused extensive social and environmental harm from mass displacement in the Narmada valley to loss of livelihoods of traditional fishworkers in places such as Barwani.

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Integrated Relief and Recover after the 2006 Flood in Surat City

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 22:48:03 +0100

Source: Disaster Mitigation Institute

The City of Surat in Gujarat exemplifies the development disaster nexus. An industrial city located on the bank of a
river, with large working class population inhabiting slums, signifies complex vulnerabilities to risk from natural hazards - in this case flooding. Over time, the physical aspects of vulnerability of the city have increased with the growth of its industries. Mega development projects elsewhere, as the release of water from the Ukai dam in the State of Maharashtra showed, add to this. Industrial cities invite labour migration. These individuals often live in poor, marginal, and socially and economically insecure conditions.

The 2006 flood is a demonstration of the inability of a vulnerable city and its population to withstand or protect themselves from flood hazards. The recent flood in Surat also demonstrates the continuity of the dominant approach to deal with disasters. A serious lack of preparedness and prevention measures by the authorities was evident. Surat experiences frequent annual flooding and had a similar flood disaster in 1998, which suggested similar same causes and effects. However, lessons of these incidences have not guided the disaster management authorities, the city administration or the citizens to be better prepared. Similar to other similar crisis situations, relief and recovery agencies are at work in Surat. It is time to question to what extent we are able to look beyond the emergency and pitch the recovery with a long-term vision. Where can the levels of risk and vulnerabilities be reduced? Where can the capacities of the administration and the population be built towards better preparedness and prevention, not only from seasonal floods, but also from more severe incidents such as the 2006 flood? Civil society, including non-governmental organisations, is making substantial efforts to demonstrate more sustainable preparedness-focused approaches to long-term recovery from early stages. However, the efforts of the NGOs face the challenge of reaching the required scales. The bigger actors, in particular the government agencies, need to take the best of such initiatives to adopt a preparedness and risk reduction approach towards recovery. When this happens, the impact of the subsequent flood
events will be significantly less.

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World Bank attempt to privatise Mumbai’s water runs aground: Citizens reject report

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 16:37:33 +0100

Source: Focus on the Global South

On 3rd June, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) held a stakeholders meeting in which the New Zealand based consultant group Castalia (hired by the World Bank and the Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility) to conduct a study in the K-east ward of Mumbai, presented their findings and recommendations after a year-long study, for the Water Distribution Improvement Programme (WDIP). The meeting was attended by the MCGM Labour Union, K-east ward residents, activists, experts in water management and a few elected representatives. Shyamal Sarkar of the World Bank (WB) and Bhavna Bhatia of the PPIAF were special invitees. The presence of the citizens, labour unions and activists proved disastrous for Castalia and the World Bank. Both organisations were exposed for presenting a report based on inflated data in order to push through water privatisation.

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Make a Difference in Sustainable Agricultural Development (MAD in SAD) Capacity Enhancement Programme

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 01:00:26 +0100

Source: Responsenet

Seeing the criticality of the roles of Sustainable Agriculture in addressing livelihood issues and inclusive economic growth, Responsenet brings together individuals and organisations working in the area of research, Policy formulation, Capacity building of farmers, Outreach Programmes, farmer rights , Media Agencies, Corporate, government bodies and Communities on a single platform and share collectively, views and ideas to enable the creation of sustainable collaboration of various stakeholders through responsenet.org.

Venue: New Delhi, India

Training Dates: 14th July to 15th July 2007

Duration: 2 Days

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Revisiting Foreign Aid: An Independent Review of Bangladesh's Development (IRBD) 2003

Tue, 15 May 2007 18:49:53 +0100

Source: Centre for Policy Dialogue, Bangladesh

The chapters in the thematic part of the Independent Review of Bangladesh’s Development (IRBD) 2003 captures a wide spectrum of issues related to foreign aid situation in Bangladesh which includes political economy of foreign aid, macroeconomic dimensions of foreign aid, role of aid in public investment, utilization of foreign aid, impact of foreign aid, aid and poverty alleviation, and aid and NGOs. The key findings from the chapters are presented below.

Dwelling upon the issue of changing importance of aid in Bangladesh, it was argued that Bangladesh is now evolving from an aid to a trade dependent economy. The fact of growing regional export concentration during the 1990s in the markets of the EU and the USA, with a single product, namely the readymade garments, is now playing a more important role in defining Bangladesh’s foreign policy than its need for aid. In contrast, during the 1980s Bangladesh’s foreign policy was targeted to ensure an uninterrupted flow of foreign aid. Today, Bangladesh’s aid dependence is focused on the international and regional financial institutions. Only a few bilaterals, such as Japan, are largely delinked from Bangladesh’s trade relations whilst remaining an important source of FDI. In contrast, the EU, which is Bangladesh’s principal trading partner, lets its individual members develop their own bilateral aid relation with Bangladesh, whilst their role as an individual aid donor is much less significant.

As a whole the analysis of the issues in the IRBD2003 will provide valuable food for thoughts to all stakeholders in Bangladesh, and will continue to serve as an important reference for policymakers, parliamentarians, DPs, researchers and students, both on the state of the Bangladesh economy and in promoting constructive dialogue on the aid relationship.

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Evaluation of the Second Industrial Energy Efficiency and Environment Improvement Project in the People’s Republic of China

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 13:23:31 +0100

Source: The Development Gateway

The industry sector is the largest energy user in the People’s Republic of China. This project was a continuation of Asian Development Bank's efforts in the country to promote sustainable improvements in energy efficiency in the most energy-intensive industrial subsectors with substantial environmental benefits. The Project was rated successful.

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Asian Development Bank: Evaluation of the Industrial Energy Efficiency Project in India

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 13:20:37 +0100

Source: The Development Gateway

Investments in energy efficiency improvements in India had not been as much as expected. This Project sought to address this by providing energy efficiency financing through a financial intermediary equipped with developed capabilities for such activities. The Project was rated partly successful in promoting energy efficiency in the energy-intensive industries in India.

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Asian Development Bank: Evaluation Report on Loans to the Nghi Son Cement Corporation in Vietnam

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 13:14:40 +0100

Source: Development Gateway

This evaluation assessed ADB’s support for the Nghi Son Cement Corporation (NSCC), ADB’s first private sector project in Viet Nam. In December 1996, the ADB’s Board of Directors approved a direct loan of $30 million and a loan of $26.5 million under its complementary financing scheme for NSCC. At the time of project construction, NSCC was the largest greenfield cement plant in the world. This project was rated successful. The report showed that the strong commitment of the sponsors and effective coordination of ADB’s public and private sector operations with local governments were needed to achieve development objectives.

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New Strategies for International Assistance

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 12:14:27 +0000

Source: The Centre for Policy Dialogue

The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), as part of its dialogue programme, organised a dialogue on New Strategies for International Assistance with Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Director, Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID), USA on January 5th, 2000 at Hotel Sonargaon, Dhaka. Professor Rehman Sobhan, Chairman, CPD moderated the dialogue. The dialogue, attended by Dr. S.A. Malek, Political Advisor to the Honourable Prime Minister, Government of Bangladesh, Mr. Saifur Rahman, MP, former Minister of Finance, Government of Bangladesh and Dr. A. Moyeen Khan MP, former Minister of State for Planning, Government of Bangladesh, was also participated by a cross section of top level policy makers, politicians, academics, experts, business leaders and leaders of various civil society groups. (List of the participants is annexed). This dialogue report presents a summary of the keynote presentation made by Professor Sachs and briefly captures the main points of the interactive discussion and exchanges which followed Professor Sach's presentation.

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Bangladesh Development Forum 2004: Civil Society’s Perspectives

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 12:11:58 +0000

Source: Centre for Policy Dialogue

The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) organised a national dialogue titled “Bangladesh Development Forum 2004: Civil Society’s Perspectives” which was held on May 05, 2004 at the CIRDAP auditorium, Dhaka. The purpose of the dialogue was to create an opportunity for constructive engagement to discuss the context, agenda and possible outcomes of the Bangladesh Development Forum 2004 (BDF 2004), scheduled to be held during May 9-11, 2004. Furthermore, the dialogue was to create a platform for candid and open discussion on issues on the table, for major stakeholders including the civil society groups, the government and the development partners.

Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Executive Director, CPD, presented the keynote paper at the dialogue. Professor Rehman Sobhan, Chairman, CPD, presided over the dialogue. The Honarable Minister for Finance and Planning Mr M Saifur Rahman, MP was present at the dialogue as the Chief Guest. Mr Mushfiqur Rahman, MP, Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Finance and Mr Saber Hossain Chowdhury, Political Secretary to the Honarable Leader of the Opposition in the parliament were the Special Guests on the occasion.

Participants of the dialogue included leaders of the mainstream political parties, high level policymakers, representatives of international and bilateral development agencies, leading development activists, leaders of the trade bodies, academics, and media personalities. The list of participants is attached in Annex 1.

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Foreign Aid utilisation at the Grassroots Level: A Case study of Local Development Fund

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 11:44:05 +0000

Author: Institute for Integrated Development Studies (IIDS), Kathmandu
Source: South Asia Network of Economic Research Institute (SANEI)

In support of poverty alleviation programme, donors have been providing a substantial amount of external assistance to Nepal over the years. The per-capita foreign aid disbursement reached 18 US dollar in 1999 with loan assistance exceeding over grant. The country’s total outstanding foreign loan hovered around 49 percent of GDP as of 1999. With the ballooning total foreign debt, the per-capital debt burden on Nepalis has also surged considerably in recent years. It has touched Rs.7,876, which is almost 50 percent of the estimated per-capita income. The article explains that despite the inflow of huge foreign aid, poverty showed no sign of improvement. Foreign aid has either failed to address the poverty issue or it has not yet reached the intended beneficiaries.

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Profiting from People’s Lives: Metro Manila’s Water Privatization Saga

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 11:38:45 +0000

Author: Jubilee South, Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) and Asia Pacific Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD)

Nine years after the water distribution function of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) was auctioned off to private corporations, the Philippine government and Metro Manila’s water concessionaires have nothing to show but skyrocketing rates, unmet service obligations and heavier debt burdens. The article explains how the supposed model for private sector participation (PSP) or public-private partnership (PPP) in the global water industry has become a classic example of a water crisis solution that proves to be worse than the problem it purports to address.

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