Global development cooperation in a COVID-19 world

Homi Kharas

doi:10.24294/jipd.v5i1.1245

Global development cooperation in a COVID-19 world

Homi Kharas

Article ID: 1245
Vol 5, Issue 1, 2021

VIEWS - 1607 (Abstract) 577 (PDF)

Abstract

COVID-19 and the economic response have amplified and changed the nature of development challenges in fundamental ways. Global development cooperation should adapt accordingly. This paper lays out the urgency for new methods of development cooperation that can deliver resource transfers at scale, oriented to addressing climate change and with transparency and better governance. It looks at what is actually happening to major donor countries’ development cooperation programs and where the principal gaps lie, and offers some thoughts on how to move forward, notwithstanding the clear geopolitical rivalries that are evident.
The most immediate challenge is to provide a level of liquidity support to countries ravaged by the global economic downturn. Many developing countries will see double-digit declines in GDP, with some recording downturns not seen in peacetime. Alongside the short-term challenge of recovery, COVID-19 has laid bare longer-term trends that have pointed for some time to the lack of sustainability—environmental, social, and governance—in the way economic development was occurring in many places, including in advanced economies. This new landscape has significant implications for development cooperation in terms of scale, development/climate co-benefits, and transparency and accountability.

Keywords

development cooperation; sustainable infrastructure; COVID-19; sustainable development goals; sovereign debt; Bretton Woods institutions

Full Text:

PDF

References

United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (2020). “Immediate call for $100 billion support and agreement the crisis is deep and recovery will take much longer”. Communiqué, African Ministers of Finance Second Online Meeting, March 31, 2020. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (2020, July 23). “Coronavirus: UK foreign aid spending cut by £2.9bn amid economic downturn”. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-53508933#:~:text=UK%20Politics-,Coronavirus%3A%20UK%20foreign%20aid%20spending%20cut%20by,2.9bn%20amid%20economic%20downturn&text=Britain%20is%20to%20cut%20its,most%20vulnerable%20countries%20for%20assistance

Berglöf E (2019, November 2). “Europe needs its own development bank”. Project Syndicate. https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/four-options-for-building-a-european-development-bank-by-erik-berglof-2019-11?barrier=accesspaylog

Committee on Foreign Relations (2000) “The Meltzer Commission: The future of the IMF and World Bank”. US Senate Hearing 106-657. Washington, DC, USA: Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate.

Gavas M and Käppeli A (2020, June 2). “The EU’s recovery budget: How prominent is international development?” Center for Global Development Blog. Washington, DC, USA: Center for Global Development. https://www.cgdev.org/blog/eus-recovery-budget-how-prominent-international-development

Georgieva K (2020). Transcript of Press Briefing by Kristalina Georgieva Following a Conference Call of the International Monetary and Financial Committee. Washington, DC, USA: IMF.

Government of the United Kingdom (2019, September 23). “UK aid to double efforts to tackle climate change”. Press Release. London, UK: Government of the United Kingdom. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-aid-to-double-efforts-to-tackle-climate-change#:~:text=The%20UK%20will%20double%20its,climate%20change%20and%20species%20loss.&text=This%20announcement%20means%20the%20UK,%2F22%20to%202025%2F26

_____ (2020). Prime Minister’s Statement to the House of Commons: 16 June 2020. London, UK: Government of the United Kingdom.

Humphrey C (2020). “All hands on deck: How to scale up multilateral financing to face the Covid-19 crisis”. ODI Briefing Paper. London, UK: Overseas Development Institute.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) (2019). G-20 2019 Report on Strong, Sustainable, Balanced, and Inclusive Growth. Washington, DC, USA: IMF.

_____ (2020). “A crisis like no other, an uncertain recovery”. World Economic Outlook Update, June 2020. Washington, DC, USA: IMF.

_____ (2021) Fiscal Monitor Database of Country Fiscal Measures in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Washington, DC, USA: Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF.

International Task Force on Global Public Goods (2006) Meeting Global Challenges: International Cooperation in the National Interest. Stockholm, Sweden: International Task Force on Global Public Goods.

Kanji F and Messick R (2020) “Recommendations for accelerating and streamlining the return of assets stolen by corrupt public officials”. FACTI Panel Background Paper, No. 7. New York, NY, USA: FACTI Panel, United Nations.

Moore R (2019) Strategic Choice: A Future-Focused Review of the DFAT-AusAid Integration. Canberra, Australia: Development Policy Center, Australian National University.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2020). A Comprehensive Overview of Global Biodiversity Finance, Paris, France: OECD.

Tarnoff C (2018). “The Marshall Plan: Design, accomplishments, and significance”. Congressional Research Service Report R45079. Washington, DC, USA: Congressional Research Service.

The Global Commission on the Economy and Climate (2016), “The Sustainable Infrastructure Imperative: financing for better growth and development” https://www.un.org/pga/71/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/2017/02/New-Climate-Economy-Report-2016-Executive-Summary.pdf

University of Birmingham (2020). Development Aid: How Do You Convince the Public that Progress is Possible. Birmingham, UK: University of Birmingham.

University of Maryland (2020). Americans on US Contribution to Five Sustainable Development Goals: A National Survey of Registered Voters. College Park, MD, USA: Program for Public Consultation, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland.

Washington Post (2019, September 20). “Realigning foreign assistance for a new era of great power competition”. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/realigning-foreign-assistance-for-a-new-era-of-great-power-competition/4393eebd-7ed6-40aa-b37a-797e566142c4/

World Bank (2020). Global Economic Prospects, June 2020. Washington, DC, USA: World Bank.

World Bank and United Nations (2010). Natural Hazards, UnNatural Disasters: The Economics of Effective Prevention. Washington, DC, USA, World Bank.

World Health Organization (2020). A World in Disorder. Global Preparedness Monitoring Board Annual Report 2020. Geneva, Switzerland: Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, World Health Organization.

Xu J, Ren X and Wu X (2019). “Mapping development finance institutions worldwide: Definitions, rationales, and varieties”. Peking University NSE Development Financing Research Report, No. 1. Peking, China: Institute of New Structural Economics, Peking University.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24294/jipd.v5i1.1245