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Nitsan Chorev's Give and Take is an in-depth and well-researched comparative historical analysis of the kind of foreign aid that facilitated the development and growth of the pharmaceutical industry in East Africa. [...]the decision to purchase locally manufactured drugs for "rations kits” in Kenya, but not in Tanzania or Uganda, was instrumental in the growth of the Kenyan industry and equally detrimental to the fledgling Tanzanian and virtually nonexistent Ugandan pharmaceutical sectors. [...]Chorev shows how this creation of a market, which expands significantly in the wake of HIV/AIDS, was only part of the equation. [...]the remarkable value of Chorev's work has only been amplified since its publication by the highly unequal global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, particularly in Africa, and a subsequent edition might include a prefatory note on the relevance of Give and Take to the COVID pandemic.
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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how food aid providers in Sussex and Southwest London responded and managed during the pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThe methodological approach consists of three inter-related layers. A qualitative description research approach based on naturalistic inquiry, supplemented by site visits and personal observations was used.FindingsThe pandemic catalysed dramatic, often positive, changes to the provision of food aid, with a move away from the traditional food bank model. It brought about increased coordination and oversight, as well as the upscaling of capabilities, infrastructure and provisions.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the literature on food aid in the UK It provides evidence for how providers are transforming the sector for the better and potentially helping to deal with the cost-of-living crisis.
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This article compares the discursive construction of news values in English news reporting of China Daily and CNN about the COVID-19 vaccine, to reveal how the two media packaged the vaccine and improved the acceptance of the international community towards the vaccines made in the respective countries. Adopting corpus linguistic methods and Discursive news values analysis (DNVA) framework, this study examines news values through keywords, nomination strategies, and photographs. The results show that the two media outlets constructed the news value of Eliteness dominantly through a systematic combination of words and images, albeit in different ways. China Daily prominently consists of references to China's international communications in the production and application of the COVID-19 vaccine, at the same time packaging the COVID-19 vaccine as foreign aid to enhance diplomatic relations as well as protect and promote the order of the international community. In contrast, CNN chiefly demonstrates references to domestic medical experts and the well-known manufacturers of the COVID-19 vaccine, packaging the COVID-19 vaccine as the US' medical/commercial product. The respective ways in which they portray the COVID-19 vaccine have helped to bolster the acceptance of each country's vaccine by the international community.Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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International solidarity is indispensable for coping with global crises;however, solidarity is frequently constrained by public opinion. Past research has examined who, on the donor side, is willing to support European and international aid. However, we know less about who, on the recipient side, is perceived to deserve solidarity. The article argues that potential donors consider situational circumstances and those relational features that link them to the recipients. Using factorial survey experiments, we analyse public support for international medical and financial aid in Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our results show that recipient countries' situational need and control, as well as political community criteria, namely, group membership, adherence to shared values and reciprocity, played a crucial role in explaining public support for aid. Important policy implications result: on the donor side, fault-attribution frames matter;on the recipient side, honouring community norms is key to receiving aid.
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Is foreign aid an effective soft power tool to bolster the international image of donor states? This article explores this question in the context of China's humanitarian assistance to Europe amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Anti-coronavirus aid generated affinity for Beijing in some receiver countries while backfired in others. Borrowing insights from social psychology, this study presents an explanation for this heterogeneous effect. It argues that beneficiaries' initial views of China predispose Beijing's image to a confirmation bias, leading the perceptions of pandemic aid intent to be aligned with pre-existing assessments. Specifically, receiver states with predominantly favorable views of China tend to appreciate the transfer of resources as an act of goodwill. However, recipient countries which lean towards a negative belief of the PRC are inclined to interpret the assistance as a faulty mask diplomacy to manipulate narratives and to expand geopolitical influence. The theory suggests that foreign aid cannot alter donors' global standing, but rather, it merely reinforces their established images. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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A study conducted in March 2021 by the United Nations Development Programme and the Pardee Center for International Futures at the University of Denver estimated that the multi-dimensional effects of the Covid-19 crisis could drive over 1 billion people to be living in extreme poverty by 2030 (UNDP 2021) if no action is taken to mitigate the impacts of the crisis. This echoes wider concerns about the impacts of the pandemic on global needs and transnational solidarity. Against this background, this commentary proposes IPE research draws on analytical distinctions between (1) public and private aid;(2) the quantitative and qualitative aspects of aid projects;and (3) the different motivations driving aid to analyse the evolution of aid flows in times of pandemic. With these distinctions in mind, I argue that there are reasons to believe that, despite the global economic depression, aid volumes may remain relatively stable over the coming years. Nevertheless, the current pandemic may re-orient aid flows away from the most urgent needs, requiring scholars to focus more on the quality than quantity of international aid flows in the era of Covid-19.
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This narrative review aims to highlight some of the factors contributing to challenges faced by many countries in controlling the spread of COVID-19 pandemic that continues to rage around the world, especially after stoppage of official prevention and control activities. A literature search was conducted on PubMed, and Google using search terms 'COVID-19', 'challenges', 'prevention', and 'control' in different combinations. COVID-19 prevention and control challenges are related to health-system, vaccines, administration, and society culture. Controlling the spread of COVID-19 necessitates cooperation between community leaders, healthcare professionals, religious leaders, and the public.
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For decades, governments have sought to deter migration by investing in the development of migrant-sending communities, despite macroeconomic data that shows that development can increase emigration. However, emerging research suggests that well-designed aid can promote rootedness in home communities. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has increasingly attempted to use development to deter migration from the Northern Triangle states of Central America. Is this policy sound?This paper argues that development should not be instrumentalized to discourage people from migrating. It examines migration and development policies from the lens of Catholic social teaching, which recognizes the need for states to respect the agency of individuals. This is particularly important when it comes to complex and consequential decisions like whether to migrate. The Catholic Church recognizes both a right to migrate, when necessary, and the responsibility of states, particularly wealthy nations, to help people realize the right not to migrate;that is, to thrive in their home communities. The paper argues for US government assistance to alleviate poverty and invest in human capital in Central America, but independently of efforts to deter migration. Prioritizing aid to potential migrants risks reducing its effectiveness. The United States should instead pursue a whole-of-government strategy that emphasizes the right relationships with aid recipients, and that prioritizes and empowers the poor and marginalized. The paper is strongly influenced by the author's 15 years of work for Catholic agencies on migration and development, more than one-half of those with Catholic Relief Services.
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This paper discusses issues involved in trying to make foreign aid-funded education technology (EdTech) projects sustainable in the context of Small Island Developing States. Using two EdTech projects, the paper shares the authors’ experiences in working towards sustainability by involving local stakeholders through collaborative design and implementation processes and other strategies. The paper also highlights challenges faced and how they were overcome, such as changes in local ministry staff and restrictions on travel during the coronavirus pandemic. The strategies, lessons and recommendations shared in the paper are intended to assist other practitioners in the area and contribute to collaborative learning through sharing practitioner experiences. While designing a foreign aid-funded project that is sustainable is not easy, this paper concludes that by sharing experiences and working collaboratively with local stakeholders, project teams can develop successful strategies to enhance sustainability. © 2022
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Do the normal rules of the game apply in international organizations during a global pandemic? We explore this question by comparing regular and COVID-19 World Bank loans. Analyzing lending from April 2, 2020 (the start of COVID-19 lending) to December 31, 2020, we find different results for the two types of World Bank loans. Looking at regular loans, countries that vote more in line with the U.S. on UN General Assembly resolutions are more likely to receive loans. For COVID-19 loans, geopolitics is not a significant factor. In contrast to ordinary business, the World Bank appears to have kept politics out of its pandemic response, instead more effectively focusing on provision of an important international public good.
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Following independence, but particularly following the 1948–1949 Arab-Israeli War and more so in the wake of the assassination of King Abdullah I, a common prediction among both intelligence units and academics was that Jordan, at least in its initial form, namely as a sovereign political entity under the rule of the Hashemite family, would have a limited lifespan. These pessimistic projections were largely intensified following the June 1967 War and the Black September events. In retrospect, despite the high volatility of the Jordanian economy since the mid-1980s, and more so following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Jordan is currently not only more politically stable than most of the other non-oil Arab countries, but also its socioeconomic situation is better. The aim of this article is twofold: first, to examine the major socioeconomic challenges that the Kingdom had to deal with that led so many to evaluate that it would not survive;and second, to explore the core socioeconomic pillars that enabled Jordan to survive. The core question that remains is, in light of the current major challenges – namely, the continuation of the Coronavirus pandemic;the continuing presence of large number of Arab Spring refugees;the ongoing instability in Syria and Iraq;the Kingdom’s high unemployment rate;and above all, the persistence of the rapid population growth – will the current rentier system work well “enough to survive” or, if not, what will the political consequences of failure be? [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of the Middle East & Africa is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
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Over the past decade a number of changes can be observed within the development policy system. This paper presents and discusses these changes along three dimensions: narratives, strategies and operational approaches. Changes are manifold, ranging from the application of new narratives, such as the migration narrative, to alternations in strategic objectives (e.g. developing countries’ graduation issues), new instruments (in the form of development finance at the interface with the private sector), and the application of new concepts for project implementation (e.g. through frontier technologies). We discuss the implications and effects of these changes for the current and potential future role of the development policy system, as well as preliminary ideas for a concept of global co-operation for sustainable development (GCSD), spanning beyond the development policy system.
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Purpose>This study intends to explore the impact of occupation and income on informal migrants in the face of COVID-19 induced lockdown in Bangladesh and their coping strategies to survive the pandemic situation.Design/methodology/approach>The study adopted a qualitative research design in which four urban areas were chosen purposively from various parts of Dhaka city. The authors conducted 21 semi-structured in-depth interviews, four FGDs and eight months over participant observation for achieving study objectives. The four stages of data analysis used a thematic approach in the interpretive phenomenological analysis.Findings>The results showed that respondents were massively affected due to loss of income and occupation in the period of induced lockdown. Besides, most people lost their earning sources entirely in this amid pandemic which bound them starvation in the mealtime along with several dynamic complications. The findings also revealed that they followed some surviving strategies such as taking loans, reducing expenses, consuming less food, selling land, jewelry, and goods, relatives and neighbor support, and government relief. Although these strategies somewhat supported them to struggle with the situation, their livelihood features became fragile immensely.Research limitations/implications>The findings will be an important guiding principle for the policymakers, aid organizations and development practitioners to prepare development policies for vulnerable informal migrants in developing countries like Bangladesh.Originality/value>This is the first study that explores the informal migrants’ occupation and income during COVID-19 induced lockdown in Bangladesh. This research also highlights coping strategies of the informal migrants to survive the pandemic situation.
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Rich in Resources, but Mired in Poverty Africa's resources, its strategic minerals such as gold, copper, diamonds, cobalt, and oil, as well as its human resources during the height of the global slave trade, have always been as much a curse as a blessing to the continent. [...]far too many foreign assistance programs, as well meaning as they are, create dependence on foreign aid, prop up autocratic rulers, and feed into corruption, failing to alleviate the pervasive poverty. Africa's growing young population will have an impact on the world -whether good or bad depends on how Africans and the world act in the present. Because wars have destroyed so much of the colonial infrastructure, many young Africans have, for instance, never experienced analog telephones. With the degradation of the Amazon rainforest, which now emits more CO2 than it absorbs, it is vitally important to stemming the rise of global warming caused by excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
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As the world grapples with the appropriate response against the COVID-19 pandemic with mixed results, a new opportunity for soft power influence in the form of COVID diplomacy has emerged. Countries such as the UAE that have embraced soft power as a foreign policy tool and have done relatively better in combating the pandemic have seized the initiative to provide bilateral and multilateral support in the form of COVID-19 related aid to struggling countries and international agencies, dubbed COVID-diplomacy. The UAE can engage in COVID diplomacy due to the following internal attractions: a long commitment to humanitarianism, a resilient economy, a well-managed COVID-19 response strategy, a national soft power strategy, a strong health care system, and logistical capacity. Bilaterally, UAE's COVID contributions are as follows: provision of medical supplies and health personnel to needy countries, acceptance of critically ill COVID patients, and direct economic assistance to countries whose economies have been adversely impacted by the pandemic. Multilaterally, the UAE has made major financial and medical supply donations to the WHO and other international aid agencies and serve as a transportation and logistical hub for the distribution of vaccines and medical supplies. The success of COVID diplomacy in the global fight against the pandemic will offer a template for bilateral and multilateral response towards future pandemics. Furthermore, it will create more opportunities for countries desirous of burnishing their soft power credentials via international humanitarian assistance.
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A careful meditation on the three nostalgic forces shaping anti-systemic processes, Bonds commentary focuses on uneven development in the capitalist world-economy, and the complex peripheral and semi-peripheral reality in which BRICS, as an alternative, presents no real challenge to a world-system driven by overaccumulation of capital. The next article takes us from the field of contemporary power relations to the high middle ages to focus on two distinct world-ecologies, in the North Sea and the Mediterranean, evaluated on its own terms from the World-Ecology Perspective. [...]our book review section includes the 2020 book Give and Take: Developmental Foreign Aid and the Pharmaceutical Industry in East Africa by Nitsan Chorev, reviewed by Patricia Ward.
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Combating poverty through the development of agricultural production and providing rural people with new employment and income opportunities in agriculture has become one of the major concerns of both policymakers and scholars worldwide. In many developing countries, government policies have failed to achieve the desired poverty alleviation goals due to the lack of financial resources. Despite that, few comprehensive studies have so far unambiguously identified the effects of the exogenous factor of capital inflows on the level of poverty and agriculture development. In this paper, the authors attempt to shed light on the poverty–agriculture–capital trilemma pattern by revealing the impacts of different types of capital inflows on the parameters of poverty reduction and agriculture development. The panel unit root test and pool mean group estimation techniques were employed for observing the short-term and long-term linkages between dependent and explanatory variables across fourteen developing economies of Latin America, Asia, and Eastern Europe. It was revealed that poverty reduction could be positively affected by an increase in the values of agricultural exports, foreign direct investment, foreign development assistance, and remittances received from migrant workers. The level of agriculture could be improved by deeper integration of developing economies to global food supply chains as either suppliers or consumers of food and agricultural products.
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The 1 February 2021 coup d’etat in Myanmar did more than force the country’s journalists and other media makers to operate under extreme conditions to continue their work, and win back the space for freedom of expression and the press lost to them. The coup also provoked a massive cultural shift, and the country’s independent media are playing a key role. After a half century of military dictatorship, a decade of much-lauded democratic opening (2011–20) prior to the coup had ushered in game-changing developments to the media landscape. Yet since the coup, the junta and its appointed State Administrative Council (SAC) have inflicted the kinds of brutalities in response to peaceful protesters that the military has used for decades with impunity against the country’s ethnic minorities, all justified, they claim, to ensure ‘the rule of law’ and ‘law and order’. The SAC has also attempted complete control over Myanmar’s media, cutting off at various times nearly all internet and mobile access. This included Facebook, Twitter and other apps, thereby silencing the country’s independent media or forcing them into forms of self-censorship, hiding or exile, and allowing only a military-controlled narrative of unfolding events through military- and state-run media. Yet the independent media sector has not only survived, it has proven to be a key voice in efforts to thwart the regime’s attempts to control public mediated space. This article explores the various approaches to media policy-making in Myanmar during the COVID-19 pandemic and the aftermath of the coup, as employed by the military, the elected but later overthrown National League for Democracy government, various key components of the pro-democracy forces, and international aid and advocacy organizations working to increase freedom of expression and the press. It draws from interviews with key media policy-makers, journalists, academics and free expression advocates, and analyses of content from the (now) junta-controlled Global New Light of Myanmar and other key documents. It explores the various approaches taken and lessons learned by key stakeholders working to control or change public discourse and freedom of expression and the press in the country.
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With the start of a new administration in the United States, the coming months might offer an opportune moment for Washington to rethink some of the fundamental premises underlying American policymaking in the Middle East and review how the United States engages the Middle East and - perhaps more fundamentally - for what purpose.