Comments

Kate, Thanks for sharing this analysis of Nancy Birdsall and Homi Kharas's exciting new report and I like your conclusions. Hopefully your article will encourage more people to read the report and there will be more debate, including through the Development Policy blog. Here are four other reasons why I like the QuODA report. 1) Supports 'evidence-based advocacy'. The neat charts make it easy for the public to see a donor's relative strengths and weaknesses and to provide feedback. And it is another tool to help donors to plan and prioritise reforms to improve the quality of aid. 2) Comparing donor performance. In addition to providing some peer pressure for reform, it could also be an important tool for helping bilateral donors to allocate aid among multilateral agencies. 3) A rich source of data. Behind all of the charts is a wealth of data, and a useful feature of the report is that it can easily be accessed in excel format - providing a valuable resource for researchers. 4) Annual data. CDG and Brookings have said that they will publish the data annually, so this could also become a useful tool for tracking progress with aid effectiveness reforms.

Trilateral development cooperation (http://www.cuts-international.org/pdf/BP1-2005.pdf) is an trend which is finding wider acceptance because of its efficiency and cost effectiveness. In simple terms, TDC involves a northern donor, a southern technical assistance provider and southern recipient to help in capacity building, infrastructure and other development inputs.

Hi Matt & Bonnie, Matt - anytime, I am happy I can contribute something and excited to watch your blog grow! Bonnie - I really enjoyed your MDG post and I am glad you found your way to this new development policy blog.

Thanks for including my blog post on the MDG 10th anniversary review. I am glad to know of your blog.

Danielle, Thanks for contributing to the Development Policy blog. It's a great addition and a useful summary of key development policy debates. Best wishes, Matt

Hi Matt, This is great! This kind of discussion has been lacking within Australia. I am happy that you and Stephen have taken the initiative. Cheers, Charles

Matt, Good post, and yes, we definitely need a plan for Australian aid. Have you seen the online discussion that Oaktree eXchange had? It raised some interesting questions about the balance of funding between private contractors and NGOs. It also highlighted the fragmentation of international development efforts - something that our government needs to keep in mind when thinking about going into Africa and Latin America. http://theoaktree.org/blog/2010/08/17/oaktree-exchange-aid-effectiveness/ Best wishes, Nick