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1. How Do Humanitarian Donors Make Decisions, and What Is the Scope for Change?

Author:
Rose Worden and Patrick Saez
Publication Date:
10-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
n this policy paper we review donor responses to a survey and interviews to probe the effects of the broader political and economic context in which donors operate, and identify internal constraints on humanitarian funding, planning, and making allocative decisions. We identify and highlight perceived and real constraints with which donors contend when making decisions on how to allocate limited resources. The way humanitarian donors fund is key to system-wide efficiency, effectiveness, and reforms in the humanitarian system. Donors face competing priorities when engaging in humanitarian response. They care about retaining control, must rely on limited information sources to inform decisions, and balance their approaches with other foreign policy objectives. Institutional legacies, trust, and visibility for their efforts also matter to donors. These factors have shaped how donors have approach their current commitments to Grand Bargain reforms as donors prepare to engage with the newest iteration of reform—the Grand Bargain 2.0.
Topic:
Humanitarian Aid, Reform, Institutions, and Donors
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2. Rethinking Humanitarian Reform: What Will it Take to Truly Change the System?

Author:
Patrick Saez, Jeremy Konyndyk, and Rose Worden
Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
This brief summarizes three years of research under the project, “Rethinking Humanitarian Reform,” led by Jeremy Konyndyk, Patrick Saez, and Rose Worden, and funded by the aid departments of the United Kingdom and Australia. The project aimed to understand the incentives behind the humanitarian system and shift them to better prioritize the needs of affected populations.
Topic:
Development, Humanitarian Aid, Reform, and Institutionalism
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and Global Focus

3. Five Takeaways on the Future of Humanitarian Reform

Author:
Jeremy Konyndyk
Publication Date:
08-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
The world’s humanitarian aid architecture is growing outdated. Relief programs are most effective when they are integrated, locally owned, and demand driven. But humanitarian action in the 21st century remains constrained by a 20th-century aid model: siloed, supply driven, and centered on the individual mandates and sectors of major international aid agencies. This makes aid both less effective and less responsive than it could be. In a world where displacement is at the highest levels in generations, climate disasters are increasing, and humanitarian funding is beginning to level off, this disconnect is no longer tenable. But fixing it is not a simple matter—multiple rounds of humanitarian reform over the past 15 years have made progress but fallen short of fundamental change. Earlier this summer in Geneva, CGD convened two high-level private roundtables, one with leaders from humanitarian donor institutions and another with senior executives from major humanitarian aid agencies (both multilaterals and NGOs), to discuss how to make humanitarian aid more cohesive and user-centered. The meetings were part of a multiyear research initiative exploring how modernizing the humanitarian business model and humanitarian governance are integral to improving field-level humanitarian impact. CGD teed up the conversation with three emerging ideas from our research (you can see the presentation slides here). These ideas—the subjects of several forthcoming papers CGD is developing —explore ways of better aligning aid delivery around enhanced impact toward affected people’s priorities
Topic:
Development, Humanitarian Aid, International Cooperation, Reform, and Humanitarian Intervention
Political Geography:
Global Focus

4. People-Driven Response: Power and Participation in Humanitarian Action

Author:
Jeremy Konyndyk and Rose Worden
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
The notion that humanitarian response should center on the people it serves, rather than the aid agencies serving them, has been repeatedly codified in humanitarian commitments as far back as the early 1990s. Yet the mainstream humanitarian system has struggled to translate these commitments into practice: corresponding reform efforts have failed to systemically broaden accountability to and participation of aid recipients in response efforts. Major constraints have included misaligned incentive structures between donors and aid agencies, power imbalances between aid providers and aid recipients, and operational and political complexities arising at field level. To produce real systemic change, the aid system must move beyond technical and rhetorical approaches to accountability and begin reshaping the power and incentive structures that influence aid decision-making. This paper proposes a set of mutually reinforcing recommendations centered around three imperatives: enshrining the influence of aid recipients at all levels of aid decision-making; developing independent channels for soliciting the priorities and perspectives of crisis-affected people; and institutionalizing a set of enabling changes to humanitarian operational and personnel practices.
Topic:
Development, Humanitarian Aid, Institutionalism, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

5. Payouts for Perils How Insurance Can Radically Improve Emergency Aid

Author:
Theodore Talbot, Stefan Dercon, and Owen Barder
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Millions of people face hazards like cyclones and drought every day. International aid to deal with disasters after they strike is generous, but it is unpredictable and fragmented, and it often fails to arrive when it would do the most good. We must stop treating disasters like surprises. Matching finance to planning today will save lives, money, and time tomorrow.
Topic:
Humanitarian Aid, Foreign Aid, and International Development
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6. Philanthropy, Welfare Capitalism or Radically Different Global Economic Model: What Would It Take to End Global Poverty within a Generation Based on Historical Growth Patterns?

Author:
Peter Edward and Andy Sumner
Publication Date:
09-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
This paper considers the effectiveness and efficiency of global growth, as a route to poverty reduction, since 1990 and then demonstrates the redistributive challenges implicit in various poverty lines and scenarios: the significance being that this historical data can inform understanding and appreciation of what it would involve to end global poverty in the future. We find that a very modest redistribution of global growth could have ended poverty already at the lowest poverty lines. However, higher, but arguably more reasonable, poverty lines present radically different challenges to the current workings of national economic systems and to global (normative) obligations.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Humanitarian Aid, and Poverty

7. Social Capital and Disaster Recovery: Evidence from Sichuan Earthquake in 2008

Author:
Chun Wing Tse, Jianwen Wei, and Yihan Wang
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Social capital can help reduce adverse shocks by facilitating access to transfers and remittances.This study examines how various measures of social capital are associated with disaster recovery after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. We find that households having a larger Spring Festival network in 2008 do better in housing reconstruction. A larger network significantly increases the amount of government aid received for housing reconstruction. Furthermore, households having larger networks receive monetary and material support from more people, which also explains the positive impacts on recovery from the earthquake. As for other measures of social capital, connections with government officials and communist party membership do not significantly contribute to disaster recovery. Human capital, measured by the years of schooling of household head, is not positively correlated with housing reconstruction.
Topic:
Economics, Humanitarian Aid, Natural Disasters, and Governance
Political Geography:
China and Israel

8. HIV/AIDS Intervention Packages in Five Countries: A Review of Budget Data

Author:
Amanda Glassman, Denizhan Duran, Rachel Silverman, and Victoria Fan
Publication Date:
10-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
More than ever, global health funding agencies must get better value for money from their investment portfolios; to do so, each agency must know the interventions it supports and the sub-populations targeted by those interventions in each country.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Development, Economics, Health, Humanitarian Aid, and Health Care Policy
Political Geography:
India, Philippines, Ethiopia, and Nigeria

9. Migration and Disaster-Induced Displacement: European Policy, Practice, and Perspective

Author:
Michael D. Cooper
Publication Date:
10-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Over the last decade, a series of devastating natural disasters have killed hundreds of thousands of people, displaced millions, and decimated the built environment across wide regions, shocking the public imagination and garnering unprecedented financial support for humanitarian relief efforts. Some suggest that disaster migration must be supported by the international community, first as an adaption strategy in response to climate-change, and second, as a matter of international protection.
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, Environment, Humanitarian Aid, and Natural Disasters
Political Geography:
Europe

10. An Index of the Quality of Official Development Assistance in Health

Author:
Amanda Glassman and Denizhan Duran
Publication Date:
02-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Health is one of the largest and most complex aid sectors: 16 percent of all aid went to the health sector in 2009. While many stress the importance of aid effectiveness, there are limited quantitative analyses of the quality of health aid. In this paper, we apply Birdsall and Kharas's Quality of Official Development Assistance (QuODA) methodology to rank donors across 23 indicators of aid effectiveness in health. We present our results, track progress from 2008 to 2009, compare health to overall aid, discuss our limitations, and call for more transparent and relevant aid data in the sector level as well as the need to focus on impact and results.
Topic:
Development, Health, Human Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, and Foreign Aid

11. The Quality of Official Development Assistance Assessment 2009: Is Aid Quality Improving?

Author:
Nancy Birdsall, Homi Kharas, and Rita Perakis
Publication Date:
04-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
This report presents the results of the second edition of the Quality of Official Development Assistance (QuODA) assessment, with a focus on the changes that have occurred in donor performance since the first edition. These results were released in summary form in November, 2011, just before the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, South Korea.
Topic:
International Relations, Development, Economics, Humanitarian Aid, Poverty, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
South Korea

12. Haiti: Where Has All the Money Gone?

Author:
Vijaya Ramachandran and Julie Walz
Publication Date:
05-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Since the 2010 earthquake, almost $6 billion has been disbursed in official aid to Haiti, a country with a population of just under 10 million. An estimated $3 billion has been donated to NGOs in private contributions in addition to official aid. The United States Government alone has disbursed almost $2 billion of this total amount and has pledged over $3 billion for relief and reconstruction.
Topic:
Corruption, Humanitarian Aid, Non-Governmental Organization, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
United States, Caribbean, and Haiti

13. How Can Bill and Melinda Gates Increase Other People\'s Donations to Fund Public Goods?

Author:
Dean Karlan and John A. List
Publication Date:
04-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
We develop a simple theory which formally describes how charities can resolve the information asymmetry problems faced by small donors by working with large donors to generate quality signals. To test the model, we conducted two large-scale natural field experiments. In the first experiment, a charity focusing on poverty reduction solicited donations from prior donors and either announced a matching grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, or made no mention of a match. In the second field experiment, the same charity sent direct mail solicitations to individuals who had not previously donated to the charity, and tested whether naming the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as the matching donor was more effective than not identifying the name of the matching donor. The first experiment demonstrates that the matching grant condition generates more and larger donations relative to no match. The second experiment shows that providing a credible quality signal by identifying the matching donor generates even more and larger donations than not naming the matching donor. Importantly, the treatment effects persist long after the matching period, and the quality signal is quite heterogeneous—the Gates\' effect is much larger for prospective donors who had a record of giving to "poverty-oriented" charities. These two pieces of evidence support our model of quality signals as a key mechanism through which matching gifts inspire donors to give.
Topic:
Development, Government, Humanitarian Aid, Markets, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
United States

14. West African Experience with the World Rice Crisis, 2007–2008

Author:
Vijaya Ramachandran, Peter Timmer, Steven Block, and Jenny C. Aker
Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Rice production in Africa has tended to be low-yielding, geographically dispersed, and uncompetitive against low-cost Asian imports, even when protected by high freight costs and substantial trade barriers. Skyrocketing prices in world markets in 2007—08 were a shock to African consumers, producers, and governments alike. When international rice prices were relatively low, rice imports did not pose economic or political problems for West African governments. Extremely expensive imports reverse that equation. This paper addresses the response to that reversal first by presenting a historical review of trends in the West African rice sector and, second, by assessing the effect of world rice prices on domestic prices, primarily at the consumer level.
Topic:
Humanitarian Aid and Food
Political Geography:
Africa and Asia

15. TrAid+ Channeling Development Assistance to Results

Author:
Alex Ergo and Ingo Puhl
Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Development assistance is meant to improve the lives of poor people in developing countries, but the effectiveness of aid in meeting this goal is uncertain. Demonstrating failure—or success—is difficult because traditional donor financing mechanisms track inputs, not results. This is compounded by poor coordination between actors and a lack of transparency, accountability, and country ownership. Development assistance that is ineffective or has unknown outcomes wastes resources, erodes the constituency for aid, and most importantly fails to improve the lives of poor people as much as it could. TrAid+ is a new mechanism that aims to address these problems by creating a market for certified development outputs—outputs for which both the delivery and the quality have been verified. By ensuring that these outputs, such as safe deliveries or gas connections, meet certain standards, trAid+ acts as a third-party stamp of approval that donors, tax payers, recipient-country governments, service providers, and beneficiaries can trust to know that their aid is being used effectively and is contributing to the development objectives of the recipient country. And trAid+ makes all information accessible online, making it easier for funders to link with projects that are working and projects that are working to link with anyone interested in purchasing certified development outputs. TrAid+ can be tailored to any sector where outputs can be clearly defined and measured, whether health, education, infrastructure, or agriculture. This paper describes the trAid+ concept in detail and proposes practical steps to establish the trAid+ platform.
Topic:
Development, Humanitarian Aid, Poverty, and Foreign Aid

16. Beyond Aid: Migration as a Tool for Disaster Recovery

Author:
Michael Clemens and Kaci Farrell
Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes can devastate people's lives and a country's economy, particularly in the developing world. More than 200,000 people perished when a catastrophic earthquake struck Haiti in January 2010, and Americans responded with an outpouring of private and public assistance. Those relief efforts, as they nearly always do, focused primarily on delivering aid. The United States barely used another tool for disaster relief: migration policy. This policy brief explores the various legal channels through which the U.S. government could, after future overseas disasters, leverage the power of migration to help limited numbers of people. We describe what could have been done for Haiti, but the lessons apply to future scenarios.
Topic:
Humanitarian Aid, Migration, Natural Disasters, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
United States

17. Migration as a Tool for Disaster Recovery: A Case Study on U.S. Policy Options for Post-Earthquake Haiti

Author:
Royce Bernstein Murray and Sarah Petrin Williamson
Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
After a natural catastrophe in a developing country, international migration can play a critical role in recovery. But the United States has no systematic means to leverage the power and cost-effectiveness of international migration in its post-disaster assistance portfolios. Victims of natural disasters do not qualify as refugees under U.S. or international law, and migration policy toward those fleeing disasters is set in a way that is haphazard and tightly constrained. This paper comprehensively explores the legal means by which this could change, allowing the government more flexibility to take advantage of migration policy as one inexpensive tool among many tools for post-disaster assistance. It explores both the potential for administrative actions under current law and the potential for small changes to current law. For concreteness, it focuses on the case of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, but its policy lessons apply to future disasters that are sadly certain to arrive. The paper neither discusses nor recommends "opening the gates" to all disaster victims, just as current U.S. refugee law does not open the gates to all victims of persecution, but rather seeks to identify those most in need of protection and provide a legal channel for entry and integration into American life.
Topic:
Humanitarian Aid, Migration, Natural Disasters, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
United States

18. New SME Financial Access Initiatives: Private Foundations' Path to Donor Partnerships

Author:
Benjamin Leo
Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
In recent years, a number of private foundations and organizations have launched ambitious initiatives to support promising entrepreneurs in developing countries, on both a for-profit and not-for-profit basis. Many of these programs have focused exclusively on building business capacity. While these tailored programs play an important role in supporting small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) development, their overall effectiveness remains hamstrung in part by continuing constraints on entrepreneurs' access to expansion and operating capital. Simultaneously, the U.S. government, other bilateral donors, and international financial institutions (IFIs) have launched a series of initiatives that provide both financial and technical assistance to SMEs in developing countries. Surprisingly, collaboration or formalized partnerships between private foundations and donor agencies has been somewhat limited-particularly on a strategic or globalized basis. This paper is targeted for these private foundations, especially those focused on women entrepreneurship. First, it provides a brief literature review of the rationale for and against SME initiatives. Second, it presents an overview of existing targeted USG and IFI programs. Lastly, it offers several new, incremental options for private foundations to establish focused partnerships with donor agencies in support of their ongoing organizational goals.
Topic:
Development, Humanitarian Aid, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
United States

19. Find Me the Money: Financing Climate and Other Global Public Goods

Author:
Nancy Birdsall and Benjamin Leo
Publication Date:
04-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
The global community faces a number of critical challenges ranging from climate change to crossborder health risks to natural-resource scarcities. Many of these so-called global commons problems carry grave risks to economic growth in the developing world and to the livelihoods and welfare of their people. Climate change is the classic example. Despite the risks involved, donor governments have funded programs addressing global challenges such as climate change at far lower levels than traditional programs of country-based development assistance. The prospects for dealing with such global challenges will depend at least in part on new collective financing mechanisms.
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, Health, Humanitarian Aid, and Foreign Aid

20. Measuring the Quality of Aid: QuODA Second Edition

Author:
Nancy Birdsall, Homi Kharas, and Rita Perakis
Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
As demonstrated by the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and Accra Agenda for Action, the development community has reached a broad consensus on what constitutes good practice for the delivery of development assistance. But since these high-level agreements were made, there has been almost no independent quantitative analysis of whether donors are meeting the standards they have set for themselves.
Topic:
Development, Humanitarian Aid, Poverty, Treaties and Agreements, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Paris