Aid instruments

Many different aid instruments are used in fragile states to channel humanitarian and developmental Official Development Assistance (ODA). Aid instruments include humanitarian pooled funding, multi-donor trust funds and other pooled funding mechanisms, direct budget support, and technical assistance. There are pros and cons to each instrument, and the mix of aid instruments used is dependent on organisational parameters, aims of the development partners, and the context in which they are used. Some are designed to contribute to development of the state, providing funding to, or through the state, whereas others are state-avoiding, channeling funding directly to non-state providers to provide health services.

One particularly difficult context is during the inherently unstable transition from conflict to post-conflict. Donors often shift from using humanitarian to developmental aid instruments. However, this can result in gaps in funding flows and aid volatility. Flexible solutions and experimentation are thus required in order to meet both service delivery and system building requirements, especially as financing needs can change quickly.