Aid instruments

This section looks at what is known about selected aid instruments and their track record in reaching the poorest.

SWAps and budget support

Sector-wide approaches (SWAps) and budget support are increasingly used by international donors to support the health services of low and middle-income countries. Currently, however, there is limited evidence of how these different approaches impact on different groups in different contexts, particularly the poorest. Neither of these approaches is inherently pro-poor. Rather their poverty impact depends on national health and other policies.

Donors' scope for influencing the direction of policy will vary from place to place, depending on the strength of their in-country technical teams and the receptivity of host governments to pro-poor arguments. In Poverty reduction budget support DFID highlights the fact that more evidence-based analysis of impact in relation to budget support, especially in relation to the very poor, is needed.