• Scaling up aid

Scaling up aid

Aid delivery is inherently political. In the context of increasing aid flows and greater donor coordination, how will aid interact with local political forces? This paper looks at a range of recent developments in the ways in which aid is provided, or ‘aid modalities’. In particular, the paper considers whether donor approaches around budget support, poverty reduction strategy papers (PRSPs), and direct transfers to the poor are compatible with a political understanding of policy processes in partner or recipient countries, an understanding that is typically not captured in quantitative analyses of aid effectiveness.

The paper discusses the following:

• the nature of the partnership enshrined in the Monterrey consensus and the realisation of this consensus, particularly the debate on whether scaling up is possible or desirable
• budget support and PRSP approaches, and the lessons learnt around increasing aid and the political processes that accompany this
• assistance directly targeted at the poor and how this may impact politics
• old and new approaches to the role of aid in economic growth and the need to strengthen an understanding of the politics of growth
• whether the current ‘institutions’ or governance paradigm brings sufficient political context to aid delivery
• the impact of aid on the fiscal contract between the state and citizens.

The concluding section draws out implications of these concerns for new aid delivery. It discusses the potential role of socio-political analysis in new aid modalities, and ways in which a better understanding of political context and changes can inform the post-Monterrey consensus. The paper concludes that donor governments need a much better understanding of the politics around aid delivery.

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