GEG WP 2011/66 Rethinking Aid Coordination

Full Title: Rethinking Aid Coordination

Author: Ngaire Woods

Type: GEG Working Paper 2011/66

Abstract

Should aid be better coordinated? And if so, how? The case for aid coordination is a powerful one. As aid poured into Haiti in the wake of a massive earthquake in January 2010, television  coverage around the world broadcast two different realities. One story was about well-organized aid-givers collecting record donations and dispatching food and medical equipment by the tonne to Haiti. The other was a story about aid stymied by a lack of coordination. Television crews depicted Haitian families and children complaining that none of the food, medical assistance, or shelter was reaching them. The President of Haiti soon spoke out: "I am not in a position to criticize anybody, not in the least people who have come here to help me," Preval said. "What I am staying is, what everybody is saying is, that we need a better coordination."

Author Bio

Professor Ngaire Woods is the inaugural Dean of the Blavatnik School of Government and Professor of International Political Economy. Her research focuses on global economic governance, the challenges of globalization, global development, and the role of international institutions. She founded and is the Director of the Global Economic Governance Programme. She is co-founder (with Robert O. Keohane) of the Oxford-Princeton Global Leaders Fellowship programme. She lead the creation of the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University and, before her appointment as Dean, served as the School’s Academic Director.

For more information about Professor Woods, please see her people page