| Publication |
2008.
|
| Summary/Abstract |
Throughout most of its history, donors have perceived official development assistance (ODA) as a potentially helpful and mostly harmless form of intervention. Despite some destructive consequences, it was not until the late 1990s when the donor community realised that badly designed and insensitively implemented ODA can be just as disastrous to the recipient society as poorly executed military interventions or indiscriminate economic sanctions. Increasing interest in the impact of economic assistance on conflict made all major donor agencies adopt guidelines to avoid harming recipient societies and to maximise the positive impact of their aid on peace. This paper summarises the key literature on the role of ODA in ongoing conflicts as well as in times of peace, focusing on the influence of aid on violent tensions in the recipient societies. It traces the evolution of ideas which led to the recognition that aid can do harm. It argues that many of these connections, seemingly obvious, are unclear and likely to produce unmet expectations, and hence frustration.
|