Implementing Global Public Policies: Are the Aid Agencies Walking the Talk?

Abstract

Beyond much rhetoric and stated ambition in recent years, the implementation of global public policies has been weak so far. There is a huge gap between the official discourse and the reality. This chapter focuses on the role, commitment and performance of aid agencies as ‘small’ but important suppliers of global public goods. While acknowledging some advances in the right direction (broad international recognition and improved costing of the global risks, consensus on the high vulnerability of the low-income countries and the need to act urgently, and substantial financing commitments) the author argues, based on available evidence from evaluations and effectiveness reviews, that only limited progress has been made in the aid delivery model and that the poor have not yet gained much from these undertakings. The chapter makes the case that significant institutional, organisational and operational reforms must take place urgently in aid agencies. The international community, moreover, must address the high fragmentation and proliferation of the aid architecture, in order to set the stage for a credible response to the global challenges facing developing countries.