Whose Aid is it Anyway? Politicizing aid in conflicts and crises

The effectiveness of international aid, both in meeting urgent needs and in tackling entrenched poverty, is being undermined in some of the world’s poorest places. While effective aid has helped save lives, protect rights and build livelihoods, some donors’ military and security interests have skewed global aid spending; and amidst conflict, disasters and political instability have too often led to uncoordinated, unsustainable, expensive and even dangerous aid projects. Skewed aid policies and practices threaten to undermine a decade of government donors’ international commitments to effective, needs-focused international aid. This paper sets out how these commitments are being disregarded, and how this trend can be reversed.