Open aid – transparent Swedish development cooperation

Open aid – transparent Swedish development cooperation.

Open aid – transparent Swedish development cooperation

“Open aid” is the name of the next step in the reform of Sweden´s development cooperation. The step is being taken to better adapt development cooperation to today´s reality and the opportunities created by globalisation and technological development. The goal is to achieve as effective poverty reduction as possible. To achieve this goal, development cooperation must be opened up to transparency and ideas from others.

Filed under: Development, European Union, OECD, Aid Efficiency, Aid Transparency, OpenAid

Human Development Report 2007/2008

The HDR provides evidence of the mechanisms through with the ecological impacts of climate change will be transmitted to the poor. Focusing on the 2.6 billion people surviving on less than US$2 a day, the authors warn forces unleashed by global warming could stall and then reverse progress built up over generations. The Report argues that climate change poses challenges at many levels. In a divided but ecologically interdependent world, it challenges all people to reflect upon how we manage the environment of the one thing that we share in common: planet Earth. It challenges us to reflect on social justice and human rights across countries and generations. It challenges political leaders and people in rich nations to acknowledge their historic responsibility for the problem, and to initiate deep and early cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. Above all, it challenges the entire human community to undertake prompt and strong collective action based on shared values and a shared vision. http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2007-2008

Filed under: Uncategorized, Aid Efficiency, Development Policy, Poverty, Publications

Study: Provision of Technical Assistance Personnel

Study: Provision of Technical Assistance Personnel – What can we learn from promising approaches?

This ECDPM study focused on the future demand for technical assistance, how TA personnel can best be mobilised, used and managed to strengthen national capacity. The study was commissioned to contribute to the current discussions on aid effectiveness and capacity development by learning about what works in relation to TA personnel, and to see what initiatives are being taken to improve practice. This work was financed by Denmark, Australia and Germany. The study included field research in Vietnam, Mozambique and the Solomon Islands. The final reports can be downloaded on the ECDPM website: http://www.ecdpm.org/dpir/ta

Filed under: Uncategorized, Aid Efficiency, Poverty

World Bank calls for broader access to finance

Between 50 and 80 percent of adults in many developing countries have inadequate access to financial services, finds a new World Bank policy research report entitled “Finance for All? Policies and Pitfalls in Expanding Access”. According to the report, failure to provide more households and small and medium enterprises with the financial services they need acts as a brake on development. While noting the microfinance industry’s progress in delivering credit to poor people, the report calls for a broader financial strategy that delivers services to all excluded people and firms. Inclusive financial systems ultimately benefit the poorest people and the smallest firms the most, by creating more jobs, raising incomes, and generating more opportunities for small businesses. The report says that governments should strengthen institutions and adopt new technologies to bring down transaction costs. Research suggests that governments should also encourage competition—including foreign bank entry—and provide the right regulatory incentives. In contrast, direct interventions by governments, such as through credit subsidies or government-owned financial institutions, can be counter-productive, reducing incentives for the private sector to deliver services to the poor.
http://econ.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTRESEARCH/EXTPRRS/EXTFINFORALL/0,,menuPK:4099731~pagePK:64168092~piPK:64168088~theSitePK:4099598,00.html

Filed under: Uncategorized, Aid Efficiency, Business Environment, Development, Development Policy, Poverty, Rural Economies