Oecd Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Development Centre Studies Policy Ownership and Aid Conditionality in the Light of the Financial Crisis: a Critical Review Oecd Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

The current economic situation has obliged the international donor community to reexamine its stance on the conditionality of development assistance. This study evaluates which controversies persist with respect to aid conditionality, how successful donors have been in stemming the rising tide of aid conditionality of the 1980s and 1990s, and whether the donor community practices what it preaches regarding the allocation of aid based on governance and development criteria. Above all, the report considers how the financial crisis has rendered it increasingly difficult to maintain traditional conditionality frameworks. Strategies for reducing the number of aid conditionalities and for enhancing recipient ownership of aid policies are proposed in light of the unsustainability of existing frameworks. Table of Content : - List of Acronyms - Preface- Introduction- Shifting Aid Modalities - A Brief Historical Recapitulation- Is Conditionality Increasing or Diminishing? - A Brief Review of Some Empirical Studies of Conditionalitys Impact - The Intrinsic Difficulty of Distinguishing Between Good and Bad Policies - The Slippery Slope of Political Conditionality - Conditionality and the Shift to New Aid Modalities - How Far Does Budget Support Resolve the Dilemma?- Policy-Based Conditionality and the Economic Crisis A Final Nail in the Coffin?- Conclusions and Policy Recommendations - References