Tag “Areas of Expertise:Aid effectiveness.”

Liberia (photo by Jessica Rothman)

"Who does best aid?"

I recently met a known Swedish journalist, Renee Nyberg while participating in a TV program (not work related). While making small-talk Renee asked me about what I do and I did my best to explain working with international development through consulting. Renee, being the journalist that she is asked me, "So tell me, who does the best aid"? (Vem gör bäst bistånd?)

The question was so simplistic, and yet so hard to answer. She was probably expecting me to mention one of the known organizations like the Red Cross, Save the Children, etc. But I had no quick answer, and I ended up describing the different kinds of "aid": multilateral, bilateral, NGO, consulting and other forms. I mentioned that in 2009 OECD/DAC proclaimed that Swedish aid was the best in the world - that was the closest I could come to describing who "does best aid". This lead to further explanations of how Sida works and all the various forms of support they engage in. Renee seemed quite confused and didn't pursue further questions.

I always find it a challenge to describe our work to those outside the development sector, because most people associate "aid" with uncomplicated forms of supporting the poor. Is there a need for more communication and information about development cooperation to the general public, and do we need to find better ways of expressing what we do?

It will be interesting to see what effect the newly launched website www.openaid.se  will have on general attitudes and understanding of aid. The website is an initiative to collect and communicate all information regarding Swedish aid: Where does the aid go? What is the aid used for? And who implements the aid? The website recently received the Swedish web-prize for its innovative interaction. Since there is such a push for aid to measure and report results I wonder if Sida and the Foreign Ministry will do the same with the website.

I would be interested to know what my fellow development colleagues would answer to the question, "Who does the best aid?"