The Complete Issue

Is aid dead? Dead Aid was the provocative title of a book that appeared on the 2009 New York Times bestseller list in which Dambisa Moyo outlined the shortcomings of traditional aid to Africa and proposed some even more contentious solutions for her continent. But has development assistance really run its course? Does all aid follow old colonial patterns and actors, as Moyo maintains?. We argue that aid is alive and kicking with some exciting turns that have been gathering momentum in recent years both among traditional donors and new and still emerging South-South Cooperation (SSC) actors. Developed country aid alone still channeled US$134 billion in 2011, a 154 percent increase from a decade earlier; preliminary figures for 2012 show to little surprise a slight decline to US$126 billion. Despite its shortcomings, aid provided by Development Assistance Committee (DAC) members is rapidly changing to be more effective, inclusive, and recipient-owned; principles that were reflected in the Paris Declaration of Aid Effectiveness (2005) and that were later reinforced in the Accra Action Plan and the Busan outcome document (2011) ...