Professor Tarp has four decades of experience in academic and applied development economics research and teaching. His field experience covers more than two decades of in-country work in 35 countries across Africa and the developing world more...
Since the late 1980s, governance has become a major concern for both donors and aid recipient countries. Good governance is seen as an important objective in and of itself, as well as a critical influence on economic development. The 2005 Paris Declaration’s commitment to national ownership of the aid agenda has further focused attention on the quality of domestic governance.
Fragile states—which have low state capacity and often high levels of poverty—are home to one-third of the world’s poor. In this animation we look at how foreign aid helps building stronger, more accountable states. The film is part of a series produced by UNU-WIDER on the project ‘ReCom–Research and Communication on Foreign Aid’. It can, for instance, be used when teaching students about what aid can achieve.
This is part of the 'ReCom – research and communication on foreign aid' project.
Team
Focal point: Finn Tarp, Rachel Gisselquist
Communications: Annett Victorero
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Journal Article
Transitional Justice, Gender Programming, and the UNSCR 1325Part of Journal Special Issue Aid for Gender Equality and Development
Journal Article
Innovative Delivery MechanismsPart of Journal Special Issue Aid, Social Policy and Development
Journal Article
Aid, social policy and developmentPart of Journal Special Issue Aid, Social Policy and Development
Journal Special Issue
Aid, Social Policy and DevelopmentThe UNU-WIDER Special Issue aims to address collectively the following questions: (1) What are the principles and facts that have underpinned the evolution of bilateral and multilateral social sector aid over the past 25 years? In particular, how pro...
Journal Article
The World Bank's Health Projects in Timor-LestePart of Journal Special Issue Development Assistance for Peacebuilding
Journal Article
Education from the Bottom UpPart of Journal Special Issue Development Assistance for Peacebuilding
Journal Article
Impact Assessment of the Facilitadores Judiciales Programme in NicaraguaPart of Journal Special Issue Development Assistance for Peacebuilding
Journal Article
Liberia's Gender-Sensitive Police ReformPart of Journal Special Issue Development Assistance for Peacebuilding
Journal Article
‘Embedded’ AssistancePart of Journal Special Issue Development Assistance for Peacebuilding
Journal Article
Substantial but Uneven AchievementPart of Journal Special Issue Development Assistance for Peacebuilding
Journal Article
The Yemen Social Fund for DevelopmentPart of Journal Special Issue Development Assistance for Peacebuilding
Journal Article
The National Solidarity ProgrammePart of Journal Special Issue Development Assistance for Peacebuilding
Journal Article
Good Aid in Hard PlacesPart of Journal Special Issue Development Assistance for Peacebuilding
Journal Special Issue
Development Assistance for PeacebuildingDevelopment assistance to fragile states and conflict-affected areas can be a core component of peacebuilding, providing support for the restoration of government functions, delivery of basic services, the rule of law and economic revitalization...
Working Paper
‘Embedded’ AssistanceDonors face distinct challenges in operating in fragile states and supporting the building of state capacity. This paper explores one type of assistance – the ‘embedding’ of highly-skilled staff members within local government agencies – through a...
Journal Article
International Aid to Southern Europe in the Early Postwar PeriodPart of Journal Special Issue Aid and Institution-Building in Fragile States
Journal Article
Aid and Institution-Building in Fragile StatesPart of Journal Special Issue Aid and Institution-Building in Fragile States
Journal Article
Aid and Governance in Vulnerable StatesPart of Journal Special Issue Aid and Institution-Building in Fragile States
Journal Article
U.S. Aid and Uneven Development in East AsiaPart of Journal Special Issue Aid and Institution-Building in Fragile States
Journal Article
Kosovo and Timor-LestePart of Journal Special Issue Aid and Institution-Building in Fragile States
Journal Article
Consociational Settlements and ReconstructionPart of Journal Special Issue Aid and Institution-Building in Fragile States
Journal Special Issue
Aid and Institution-Building in Fragile StatesWhy and how some states transition successfully from fragile to more robust—and some do not—are both topical and age-old questions. This volume of The ANNALS addresses these questions with particular attention to the role of foreign aid, offering new...
Journal Article
Foreign Aid, Resource Rents, and State Fragility in Mozambique and AngolaPart of Journal Special Issue Aid and Institution-Building in Fragile States
Journal Article
Intervention and State-BuildingPart of Journal Special Issue Aid and Institution-Building in Fragile States
Journal Article
State Failure, State-Building, and Prospects for a “Functional Failed State” in SomaliaPart of Journal Special Issue Aid and Institution-Building in Fragile States
Journal Article
Transition Regimes and Security Sector Reforms in Sierra Leone and LiberiaPart of Journal Special Issue Aid and Institution-Building in Fragile States
Working Paper
Local Agency, Development Assistance and the Legacies of Rebellion in Burundi and RwandaRwanda and Burundi have both emerged from civil wars over the past 20 years and foreign donors have provided significant contributions to post-conflict reconstruction and development in the two countries. Yet although Rwanda and Burundi share several...
Research Brief
Successes and Challenges of Public Financial Management in Sierra LeoneFragile and conflict-affected states, like Sierra Leone, can maintain a strong public financial management structure if they are able to find foreign support for administrative capacity and sufficient domestic political and executive support. PFM...
Journal Special Issue
Aiding Government Effectiveness in Developing CountriesFor more than two decades, addressing constraints to better governance in developing countries has been a priority issue for the international donor community. Recent changes to aid modalities have further prioritized the need for improving...
Journal Article
Foreign Aid and DecentralizationPart of Journal Special Issue Aiding Government Effectiveness in Developing Countries
Journal Article
Designing Effective Civil Service Reform Lessons from Past ExperiencePart of Journal Special Issue Aiding Government Effectiveness in Developing Countries
Journal Article
The Impact of Adult Civic Education Programmes in Developing DemocraciesPart of Journal Special Issue Aiding Government Effectiveness in Developing Countries
Journal Article
Styles of Policing and Economic Development in African StatesPart of Journal Special Issue Aiding Government Effectiveness in Developing Countries
Journal Article
Aiding Government Effectiveness in Developing CountriesPart of Journal Special Issue Aiding Government Effectiveness in Developing Countries
Journal Article
Assessing the Impact of Regulatory Reform in Developing CountriesPart of Journal Special Issue Aiding Government Effectiveness in Developing Countries
Journal Article
Tax and DevelopmentPart of Journal Special Issue Aiding Government Effectiveness in Developing Countries
Research Brief
The Impact of Civic Education Programmes on Political ParticipationCivic education programmes can have meaningful and relatively long-lasting effects in terms of increasing political information, feelings of empowerment, and mobilizing individuals to engage in political participation. Civic education programmes are...
Journal Article
Developing and Evaluating Governance IndexesRecent years have seen a proliferation of composite indicators or indexes of governance and their use in research and policy-making. This article proposes a framework of 10 questions to guide both the development and evaluation of such indexes. In...
Research Brief
Lessons from the National Solidarity Programme in AfghanistanThe National Solidarity Programme (NSP) serves as a success story that has improved many Afghan lives and laid the groundwork for potential longer-term development. The NSP had a positive effect on access to drinking water and electricity, acceptance...
Research Brief
Aid Failures in HaitiAid to Haiti has not been effective due to failure of the country’s political and economic elites to participate and assist in the development process. US foreign policy has in some cases reinforced the tendency for elites to personally profit from...
Journal Article
Paired Comparison and Theory DevelopmentDespite the widespread use of paired comparisons, we lack clear guidance about how to use this research strategy in practice, particularly in case selection. The literature tends to assume that cases are systematically selected from a known...
Working Paper
Success When Stars AlignSince the end of the civil war, the Government of Sierra Leone has made substantial progress in strengthening public financial management. Improvements have been achieved across all aspects of the budget cycle and are particularly notable with regard...
Position Paper
Aid, Governance and FragilityThis position paper on Aid, Governance, and Fragility was prepared by UNUWIDER under the ReCom programme of Research (Re) and Communication (Com) on foreign aid. It aims to provide an up-to-date overview and guide to two topics of central importance...
Working Paper
Aid and Policy Preference in Oil-Rich CountriesThis paper analyses the role of foreign aid to assist development in two oil-rich countries: Indonesia and Nigeria. This paper seeks to understand the way foreign aid provided assistance to transform Indonesia from a ‘fragile’ state in the 1960s into...
Working Paper
Foreign Aid Effectiveness in African EconomiesThe aid-growth literature has been explored using a wide range of econometric methodologies. The evidence of the effectiveness of aid to promote economic growth is mixed, suggesting that the link between aid and growth is complex and may not be well...
Working Paper
Transition Regimes and Security Sector Reforms in Sierra Leone and LiberiaWhy are some countries more successful at carrying out post-conflict reconstruction programmes than others? Why has Sierra Leone been more successful in the reform of its armed forces than Liberia has after the end of the Mano River Basin wars? This...
Working Paper
Aid and Institution-Building in Fragile StatesInstitution-building in Somalia has met with high levels of failure for two decades. But successes have occurred in other Somali-inhabited regions of the eastern Horn, and have been especially present at the local and municipal level. The most...
Blog
Goodbye and hello ReCom!The research programme ReCom – Research and communication on foreign aid – is ending this year. There is a large and unique collection of research...
Blog
Seven reasons why research doesn’t become policyOver the last decade there has been increasing demand to make research more useful and applicable for policy-making. And that is also very true within...
Working Paper
Education from the Bottom UpThe failure of the Somali state from 1993 to 2012 represents one of the world’s most profound and prolonged cases of state collapse. Initially, education and other government services came to a standstill. With the halt of fighting in some areas...
Working Paper
State-Building Through NeotrusteeshipWhy do some states, with foreign assistance, transition from ‘fragile’ to ‘robust?’ Scholars in state-building have argued that neotrusteeship is an effective strategy by which external organizations might build post-conflict states. This working...
Working Paper
Aid and Governance in Vulnerable StatesBangladesh and Pakistan had very divergent experiences with aid after 1971. Politics in Pakistan was less inclusive in terms of opportunities for intermediate class political entrepreneurs. In this context, the significant role of military aid to...
Working Paper
Aid and State Transition in Ghana and South KoreaThis paper examines the questions of why and how foreign assistance was utilized successfully in South Korea but less so in Ghana, with a focus on the role of aid in the process of state building and state transition in these two countries. Before...
Blog
Fragility is also an opportunityOne of the more difficult issues aid organizations are facing is how to plan and conduct interventions in fragile situations where armed conflict is...
Research Brief
Policing Reforms in African States – Exploring the Link to Economic DevelopmentA secure environment is an important component of successful economic development initiatives. Policing reforms in African states have been disappointing; the image of state policy and police–community relations remain poor. States that have enacted...
Research Brief
Lessons from US Interventions to Japan, Afghanistan and IraqJapan’s post-war liberalizing reforms were a success. This was partly due to the fact that US occupation preserved the strength of national institutions and made effective use of their capacity. Improvement in the scope of the state and the strength...
Blog
Getting into a State?30 October 2013 Roger Williamson The UNU-WIDER meeting held last week in New York on the topic of fragility and aid argued forcefully that you cannot...
Blog
The Many Shades of Fragility30 October 2013 Carl-Gustav Lindén Despite many successful transitions towards peace and multiparty electoral systems there are still 47 fragile...
Research Brief
Neotrusteeship in Post-Conflict States – Lessons from Kosovo and East TimorKosovo and East Timor share many similar characteristics, and yet they have had divergent results in post-conflict state building. East Timor has enjoyed far greater development success since its independence, whereas Kosovo is now the poorest and...
Working Paper
International Aid to Southern Europe in the Early Post-War PeriodAfter the Second World War, both Greece and Italy experienced a Left-Right political polarization and a reproduction of earlier patterns of political patronage. Both Italy and Greece received international aid, including emergency relief, interim...
Working Paper
Liberia’s Gender-Sensitive Police ReformAfter its 14-year civil war, Liberia worked with multiple donors and partners to restore security. This paper explores the Liberia National Police’s innovative efforts to create a more gender-sensitive police service and describes the international...
Working Paper
Impact Assessment of the Facilitadores Judiciales Programme in NicaraguaFacilitadores Judiciales is a programme run by the Organization of the American States and the Nicaraguan judiciary. The main objective of the programme is to improve access to justice for the disadvantaged people in Nicaragua. From 1998 to 2010 the...
Working Paper
The National Solidarity ProgrammeThis paper describes the results of an impact evaluation of the National Solidarity Programme, a community-driven development programme in Afghanistan that created democratic village councils and funded small-scale development projects. Using a...
Working Paper
Intervention, Aid, and Institution-Building in Iraq and AfghanistanSince 2001 international attention has focused on the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and specifically on the question of whether external intervention can assist weak or fragile states in successfully making the transition to stable democracies...
Working Paper
Foreign Aid and the Failure of State Building in Haiti Under the Duvaliers, Aristide, Préval, and MartellyAfter receiving at least US$20 billion in aid for reconstruction and development over the past 60 years, Haiti has been and remains a fragile state, one of the worse globally. The reasons for aid failure are legion but mostly relate to highly...
Working Paper
Foreign Aid, Resource Rents and Institution-Building in Mozambique and AngolaSharing similar colonial and post-independence civil war experiences, Mozambique and Angola’s development paths are often contrasted, with foreign aid-dependent Mozambique hailed a success compared to oil rentier Angola. This paper questions the so...
Blog
Getting ready for CopenhagenAfter two ReCom Results Meetings in Stockholm we are returning to Copenhagen. The next event ‘Challenges in Fragility and Governance’ is coming up...
Working Paper
The World Bank’s Health Projects in Timor-LesteThe World Bank’s health sector projects in Timor-Leste—the Health Sector Rehabilitation and Development Project and the Second Health Sector Rehabilitation and Development Project—have been among the few successful operations it has funded in that...
Working Paper
Consociational Settlements and ReconstructionThis paper examines Bosnia with some comparative insights from Northern Ireland. Both places were extremely fragile in the immediate aftermath of their brokered peace negotiations and consociational institutions, in Bosnia in 1995 and Northern...
Working Paper
Aid and Development in Taiwan, South Korea, and South VietnamThe aim of this paper is to explain the divergent developmental outcomes between South Korea, Taiwan, and South Vietnam. Whilst US aid has correctly been cited as key factor in explaining the rapid post-war development of South Korea and Taiwan, the...
Working Paper
Aid, Accountability, and Institution-Building in EthiopiaForty billion dollars of official development assistance during 1991-2012 reduced Ethiopian absolute poverty while underwriting more efficient but exclusionary public institutions. This aid-institutions paradox reflects a strong interest-alignment...
Working Paper
Delivering Good Aid in Hard PlacesThe Yemen Social Fund for Development (SFD) was established in 1997 with the support of the international community, and in particular the World Bank, to combat national poverty and reinforce the limited existing social safety net. Since its...
Context
Main subject
Theme: Past, 2010-11