Foreign Aid Policy and Practice

Foreign Aid: Policy and Practice offers a complete overview of the basics of foreign aid. Who is it for? Who pays for it? Why does it exist? What is it spent on? How much is it? And most important, does it work? The aid debate has been flooded by academic studies and popular books that either challenge or champion the effectiveness of aid. Most presume that the reader already knows the basic facts and characteristics of the aid industry. This book provides readers with a comprehensive summary of the background, actors, core principles and policies, and intended (and unintended) outcomes of foreign aid, followed by a more informed and balanced treatment of the key controversies and trends in aid today. Drawing on the author’s 25 years’ experience in development practice and 15 years in teaching, the book reflects on recent efforts to accelerate aid’s impact and concludes by taking a look at the future of aid and the headwinds it will face in the first half of the 21st century. Perfect for university teaching at advanced undergraduate and graduate levels, this book will also encourage development practitioners, policy makers, and members of the public to engage in more informed debates about aid and development finance.

Part I The Basics of Foreign Aid1. Introduction2. Setting the Context3. The Main Actors: Recipients and Donors4. How Aid Works Part II Effective Aid: Debates and Trends5. Judging Donors’ Performance6.: The Great Aid Effectiveness Debate7. Opening the "Black Box" of Aid Effectiveness8. The Rocky Road Towards Aid Effectiveness9. Summing Up and Looking Ahead

Phyllis R. Pomerantz is Professor Emerita of the Practice of Public Policy at the Duke Center for International Development, Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University, USA, where she has taught graduate students for over 15 years. Before this, she had a long career at the World Bank, including managerial appointments in agriculture, rural development, and infrastructure, and as a country director and the World Bank’s first Chief Learning Officer.