Jul 07, 2008

Bush Proposes Tracking Mechanism for Aid Pledges

by Laura Starita

At the Group of Eight meeting that began in Japan this past weekend US President George Bush proposed that the group establish a mechanism for tracking aid pledges made by wealthy nations to Africa and assessing whether those pledges have been met. The purpose would be to hold wealthy nations accountable for the promises they make to the poor. A number of the G8 countries, including France and Germany, are significantly behind on the pledges they made at the 2005 summit, where as a group the Eight promised to double the amount of development aid to Africa.

In the event that it is implemented, such a tracking mechanism would be a step in the right direction for injecting more accountability into foreign aid. Within the current environment, leaders often make executive pronouncements at relevant meetings, but payments come much later and in much smaller amounts than promised. Part of the disconnect between pledges and payments come about as a consequence of the democratic process in which congress or parliament must approve payments. This dynamic is in evidence right now in the United States, where a small group of Republican senators are delaying the vote on the PEPFAR bill; their argument in essence is that the bill’s current commitment of $50 billion over five years is too generous. By matching pledges to payments, a monitoring mechanism keeps wealthy countries honest, and can provide some perspective on international generosity.

So the monitoring mechanism should be implemented, and once implemented it should be expanded to include not just what was pledged and paid, but also, eventually, how paid funds were spent and to what end. Enough evidence exists to leave little doubt that not all paid aid money is spent well. It is right and sensible to begin by making sure that promises are kept. The next step should be to ensure that they bring positive results.