Ownership in practice: The key to smart development
Countries should provide foreign aid in ways that strengthen the voice of poor people and the responsiveness of the state.
Aid cannot generate enough market access or sufficient growth to tackle a country’s poverty on its own. Nor can it forge a compact between a citizen and her state. But the way that countries deliver foreign aid can strengthen or weaken that compact. At its best, aid strengthens public accountability, complements government revenues in providing public goods, and supports citizen efforts to hold governments accountable.