1 Tara Bedi & Brendan Riordan My Word is my Bond My Word is My Bond: Delivery of Aid Commitments by Ireland and the UK Tara Bedi* and Brendan Riordan *Trócaire, Maynooth, Ireland

2 Tara Bedi & Brendan Riordan My Word is my Bond Ethical grounds for fulfilling commitments 1. Keep promises - the deontological obligation; 2. Consequences of failure to keep a promise, especially consequences hurting other parties.

3 Tara Bedi & Brendan Riordan My Word is my Bond Structure of paper (after Gasper, 2004) I. Evidence 1. Were commitments kept? 2. Consequences of not fulfilling commitments. II. Reflection on the evidence III.Action to foster the keeping of commitments (Ethical Praxis)

4 Tara Bedi & Brendan Riordan My Word is my Bond Official Development Assistance (ODA) a) General commitments- Increase ODA to 0.7 percent of N.I. Increase ODA to 0.7 percent of N.I. b) Commitments to individual countries and organisations engaged in development Multi-year development programmes, eg in Tanzania at 30 million each year. Multi-year development programmes, eg in Tanzania at 30 million each year.

5 Tara Bedi & Brendan Riordan My Word is my Bond I.1 Were commitments kept? a) General commitments ODA increased slower than pledged in 2000 and ODA increased slower than pledged in 2000 and b) Individual commitments Over half of commitments in Country Programmes apparently not delivered in full on time (OECD, 2008). Over half of commitments in Country Programmes apparently not delivered in full on time (OECD, 2008).

6 Tara Bedi & Brendan Riordan My Word is my Bond I.2 Consequences of not fulfilling commitments a) General commitments Behind schedule on progress towards the Behind schedule on progress towards the Millennium Development Goals MDGs b)Individual commitments Country development strategies undermined. Country development strategies undermined.

7 Tara Bedi & Brendan Riordan My Word is my Bond I.2 Consequences of not fulfilling commitments b)Individual commitments - continued Exacerbation of difficulties of managing low income aid dependant economies. Exacerbation of difficulties of managing low income aid dependant economies. Inefficient use of aid, especially aid windfalls. Inefficient use of aid, especially aid windfalls.

8 Tara Bedi & Brendan Riordan My Word is my Bond II. Reflection on the evidence Aid promises have been broken- Aid promises have been broken- trust in the promise giver damaged. trust in the promise giver damaged. instability exacerbated; instability exacerbated; Within low income countries: growth of an atmosphere of trust hindered by disruptive effects of unreliable aid. Within low income countries: growth of an atmosphere of trust hindered by disruptive effects of unreliable aid.

9 Tara Bedi & Brendan Riordan My Word is my Bond II. Reflection on the evidence Trust

10 Tara Bedi & Brendan Riordan My Word is my Bond II. Reflection on the evidence Trust and …..

11 Tara Bedi & Brendan Riordan My Word is my Bond III Action to strengthen incentives for donors to deliver commitments To individual partners To individual partners Through pressure on governments facilitated by publication of: (a) Payment schedules for multi-year commitments; (b) Statistics on aid received relative to commitments.

12 Tara Bedi & Brendan Riordan My Word is my Bond III Action to strengthen incentives for donors to deliver commitments To individual partners ( continued) To individual partners ( continued) Through the law: (c) Obligatory public reporting on items (a) and (b); (d) Embed commitments in contracts-

13 Tara Bedi & Brendan Riordan My Word is my Bond III Action to strengthen incentives for donors to deliver their general commitments (e) Through pressure facilitated by publication of progress reports; (f) Obligatory reporting on progress to reach ODA targets; (g) Legislation to ensure ODA rises to meet targets. to ensure ODA rises to meet targets.

14 Tara Bedi & Brendan Riordan My Word is my Bond Summary a) General ODA commitments b) Commitments to individual development partners In both, donors have not always delivered in full and on time. In both, donors have not always delivered in full and on time.

15 Tara Bedi & Brendan Riordan My Word is my Bond Summary continued Failures to keep commitments: 1. Damaged trust that donors would do what they say – the deontological obligation 2. Diminished the value of aid to recipients as a consequence.

16 Tara Bedi & Brendan Riordan My Word is my Bond Summary continued Action to strengthen incentives for donors to deliver: Publish performance data; Publish performance data; Legal enforcement of delivery. Legal enforcement of delivery.

17 Tara Bedi & Brendan Riordan My Word is my Bond Conclusions More action is needed to strengthen incentives so that More action is needed to strengthen incentives so that all commitments are delivered in full, on time; Governments existing commitments should have Governments existing commitments should have first call on the public purse.

18 Tara Bedi & Brendan Riordan My Word is my Bond Thank you Please let us know your views, Tara Bedi and

19 Tara Bedi & Brendan Riordan My Word is my Bond I.1 Were commitments kept? Cont. b) Individual commitments - continued Aid deliveries deviated from commitments by an average 3 percent in sub-Saharan Africa in 1998 to Aid deliveries deviated from commitments by an average 3 percent in sub-Saharan Africa in 1998 to Deviations were aid windfalls as well as shortfalls Deviations were aid windfalls as well as shortfalls CSOs also affected by funding delivery differing from commitments. CSOs also affected by funding delivery differing from commitments.

20 Tara Bedi & Brendan Riordan My Word is my Bond II. Reflection on the evidence cont. Low income – high income country development partnerships: trust damaged. Low income – high income country development partnerships: trust damaged.

21 Tara Bedi & Brendan Riordan My Word is my Bond II. Reflection on the evidence cont. Trust dimension in aid relations 1. High Trust 2. Intermediate levels 3. Low levels – fragile states

22 Tara Bedi & Brendan Riordan My Word is my Bond II. Reflection on the evidence Trust dimension in aid relations - continued 1. High trust Effective governance and policies; Effective governance and policies; Aid via budget support; Aid via budget support; Multi-annual implicit contracts. Multi-annual implicit contracts.

23 Tara Bedi & Brendan Riordan My Word is my Bond II. Reflection on the evidence Trust dimension in aid relations - continued 2. Intermediate levels of trust Aid with traditional conditionality; Aid with traditional conditionality; Multi-annual legal contracts. Multi-annual legal contracts.

24 Tara Bedi & Brendan Riordan My Word is my Bond II. Reflection on the evidence Trust dimension in aid relations - continued 3. Low trust – fragile states Government largely impotent; Government largely impotent; Aid as goods and services or via CSOs; Aid as goods and services or via CSOs; Short-term, highly focused, contracts with government or CSOs. Short-term, highly focused, contracts with government or CSOs.

25 Tara Bedi & Brendan Riordan My Word is my Bond III Action to foster fulfillment of commitments by donors Why? Why? 1. Obligation to do so on deontological grounds; on deontological grounds; 2. Current weakness of incentives for donors to deliver on their commitments.