Catalyzing Development

Aid can only be a catalyst, not a driver of development. Aid can work: it has achieved notable successes in even the most disadvantageous country settings. But it is not a panacea. Many new players -such as middle-income countries, private philanthropists and even the private business community -are now providing aid, but their impact depends on how aid is organized and delivered. Catalyzing Development is an in-depth analysis of the new approaches that are needed to meet development challenges.

Over two-fifths of official aid goes to support thirty-five developing countries with a combined population of 940 million that can be classified as "fragile" or at risk of suffering debilitating internal conflict. Another fifth is provided in the form of technicalcooperation, and one-tenth is already being provided for climate change. There is as yet no consensus on how best to use aid in these situations. Similarly, the large amounts of aid from the private nonprofit and for-profit sectors, and from middle income countries, are not optimized through coordination with traditional aid. The impact of development could be increased across the board by improved aid effectiveness.

This up-to-date and insightful volume, featuring contributions from academia as well as the aid community, frames aid in this context: how can aid from each development partner play a catalytic role, not the leading role? Development will not happen because of aid, but aid can make a difference. The next High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness will discuss these issues in 2011. This volume presents research and recommendations to inform that process.

Contributors include Kemal Dervis (Global Economy and Development, Brookings), Shunichiro Honda (JICA Research Institute), Akio Hosono (JICA Research Institute), Johannes Linn (Emerging Markets Forum and Global Economy and Development, Brookings), Koji Makino (JICA), Ryutaro Murotani (JICA Research Institute), Jane Nelson (Harvard Kennedy School and Global Economy and Development, Brookings), Mai Ono (JICA Research Institute), Kangho Park (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Korea), Tony Pipa (independent consultant), Susan Puritz-Milsom (Global Economy and Development, Brookings) Hyunjoo Rhee (KOICA), Mine Sato (JICA Research Institute), Shinichi Takeuchi (JICA Research Institute), Keiichi Tsunekawa (JICA Research Institute), Ngaire Woods (University College, Oxford), and Sam Worthington (InterAction).