All, Below is the most recent newsletter from the European Network for Debt and Development (EURODAD). The content is related to this thread. Cindy ------------------ The European Network for Debt and Development (EURODAD) believes that the World Bank must radically improve the way it designs and applies its conditions in order to make aid more effective in reducing poverty. New civil society research undertaken in 2005 has found that;
· World Bank Conditions have risen not fallen in low income countries - Benin, for example, has moved from 58 conditions in its first Poverty Reduction Strategy Credits (PRSC) to 130 conditions in its second PRSC · Country Ownership is actively not being respected by the Bank, which is continuing to impose controversial conditions like privatisation on low income countries even when these are not within countries nationally development poverty strategies. For example, condition to privatise health care services in Senegal and the condition to privatise water management in Guyana · Conditions are still not clearly linked to program objectives. The forthcoming 2005 World Bank Conditionality Review offers a unique opportunity for the Bank to outline a much-needed bold and ambitious reform agenda. Recent reforms by the World Bank on conditionality, including the new operational policy on Development lending, which calls for critical conditions only, greater transparency and more participation in setting conditions, do not go nearly far enough and are not being properly implemented Eurodad has sent a letter to all the Executive Directors of the World Bank, ahead of their board meeting on 21st July highlighting the current failures and calling for: · A cessation of all economic policy conditionality · A dramatic reduction in binding and non-binding conditions · More transparency, parliamentary oversight and CSO participation in Bank lending negotiations · Greater linkages between conditions and overall program objectives, including more use of independent poverty and social impact analysis · An urgent review of the World Banks Country Policy and Institutional Assessment Framework For full Eurodad letter: http://www.eurodad.org/articles/default.aspx?id=635 NEWS: Aid Backlash Growing voices argue aid is not the answer In the run up to the G8 Summit with campaigners hoping for a political commitment to increase aid by the worlds richest nations, voices of discontent have been rising over the impact of aid on reducing poverty. The IMF has released two extensive research papers that suggest aid flows to poor countries have not led to higher growth rates, Moeletsi Mbeki, brother of South African President Thabo Mbeki and deputy chairman of the South African Institute of International Affairs has also issued a new book which is highly critical of aid and finally, African leaders attending the African Union Summit in Libya this week have also registered their discontent. The IMFs new studies, which took into account duration, type of donor and governance record of recipient, found aid did not boost growth. This conflicts with findings of an influential World Bank study five years ago that found aid boosted growth in countries with good policy environments. We need to be careful given the chequered history of aid, that we do not place more hopes on aid as an instrument of development than it is capable of delivering, the fund said in a recent article in the Financial Times ( Aid will not lift growth in Africa, June 29th). In the article, the author of the new reports, Raghuram Rajan, noted that aid needs to be more effective, but argued that this will mean more than just good governance It is not the case that all that matters is good governance, said Raghuram Rajan, We know far less about what makes aid work than the public or governments would like. By acting like we know all the answers raises false expectations. Moeletsi Mbeki, author of 'Perpetuating Poverty in sub-Saharan Africa' and brother of South African president Thabo Mbeki has also recently questioned the value of more aid to Africa. In an article originally published in the New Statesman (Aid must help people, not governments July 4th) Mbeki notes the negative political impact aid can have one of the unintended consequences of foreign aid is to make African governments even less accountable to their people because they do not need their taxes and therefore their consent. Mbeki goes on to argue that the real freedom Africans need is not just shows of democratic reform but real institutional reforms: property rights and the rule of law. Whilst, the real trade "justice" they need is free trade with each other, within their countries and with each other's countries, free of compulsory-purchase marketing boards, of customs barriers and of preferential licences. And finally, Mbeki notes that The real aid Africans need! from the West is free trade without tariff barriers and other protectionist distortions. The money value to Africans of lifting these subsidies would far exceed the amount they receive in sterile aid. Finally, Mbeki argues for economic and political conditions, noting that these may well draw accusations of interference in sovereign affairs, but that is just too bad. Leaders and senior officials of the 53-member African Union (AU) have also expressed some reservations about the role of aid. Opening the summit on Monday 4th, Muammar Gaddafi, President of Libya urged African leaders to not go begging to the rich nations, telling them to embrace self-reliance and reject conditional aid from the West. Gaddafi's message is unlikely to set the tone of the gathering, which is due to adopt a broadly favourable stance on the British-backed drive for more help for Africa to be presented to the G8 summit on Wednesday and Thursday. However, it is likely that there will be some strong words on the need for greater aid effectiveness with the African Union communiqué due out this week likely to call for improvement in the quality of the aid so that it is really helpful to poor African people." Links: Financial Times, Aid will not lift growth in Africa (June 29th 2005): http://news.ft.com/cms/s/68c254e8-e8d3-11d9-87ea-00000e2511c8.html IMF, Aid and Growth: What Does the Cross-Country Evidence Really Show? http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2005/wp05127.pdf IMF, What Undermines Aids Impact on Growth? http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2005/wp05126.pdf Moeletsi Mbeki, Aid must help people, not governments, New Statesman (July 4th): http://www.newstatesman.com/200507040004 Reuters, Gaddafi urges self-reliance at Africa summit (4 Jul 2005): http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/B686258.htm REPORT: Joint Donor Study on Impact of Economic Growth on Poverty Reduction A new study, "Pro-Poor Growth in the 1990s: Lessons and Insights from 14 Countries," presents evidence that underscores the importance of promoting strong and sustained growth as part of any pro-poor growth strategy. It also demonstrates the need to implement policies that enhance the ability of poor households to participate in growth. The study is part of a work program sponsored by the Bank, Agence Française de Dévelopement, German Development Policy and the UK Department for International Development. It draws on 14 case studies that analyze patterns of growth in countries, and how they can be affected by specific policies and conditions. The studies include Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, El Salvador, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Romania, Senegal, Tunisia, Uganda, Vietnam and Zambia. http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:20559742~menuPK:34463~pagePK:34370~piPK:34424~theSitePK:4607,00.html _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
