• Financing the MDGs

Financing the MDGs

In this briefing paper, Oxfam considers the extent of the problem of staff shortages in developing countries’ public services, and the resources and funding mechanisms required to address the gap.

The paper observes that education and health services in developing countries currently face a staffing shortfall of around two million teachers and more than four million health workers. However, estimates of the level of investment required show that it is beyond the capacity of poor countries to deliver this capacity unless much greater levels of external assistance in the form of aid and debt cancellation are provided.

The paper then discusses:

• examples of how significant and sustained increases in investment have been successful in rapidly increasing staff numbers in health and education services
• key elements of successful strategies to rapidly increase recruitment and training
• estimates of the levels of investment required to meet the staffing shortfall and improve retention of existing staff;
• problems in how aid is currently being delivered and used
• the benefits of using sector-wide approach (SWAp) and government budget support, with a special focus on the gender implications

A range of recommendations are provided for donors and recipient governments to deliver the necessary investment funds. These include:

• donors should extend debt cancellations to more of the countries that are unable to aim for the Millennium Development Goals under existing debt burdens, and increase general budget support to at least 25 per cent of their bilateral aid budgets by 2010. They should also increase the length of budget-support commitments to a minimum of six years, or increase sector budget support where general budget support is inappropriate
• poor-country governments should aim for education expenditure of at least 20 per cent of national budgets and health expenditure of at least 15 per cent. They should also ensure citizen representation and oversight to monitor public services and participate in local and national planning and budget processes
  
  

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