PFM Board
Donor practices => Budget, sector, project support? Making sense of them all => Topic started by: petagny on March 17, 2011, 08:46:39 GMT
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I came across this interesting paper prepared under DFID's Research for Development initiative.
It gives an anthropological perspective on aid as a 'gift relationship' with a gift being defined as a 'material expression of a social relationship'. It can be divided and analysed in four components, the object that is given, the chain of relationships through which the gift passes, the motives of those involved and the rules or principles governing their behaviour
Viewed from this perspective, can we see a difference between the different aid modalities? Can project aid signify a different kind of relationship than direct budget support? It's certainly difficult to put a big sign over budget support saying 'Gift from the people of...'
The paper lumps the different aid modalities together, so it is mute on this point.
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Let me think....
- project aid is like the gifts you receive when you get married. There are many, coming all at the same time and often of little use!(hence the introduction of a wedding gift list for 'donors')
- budget aid is more like the monthly salary you give to your kids. You hope they put it to good use but it is not always the case. In some cases this money is often judgetd not enough and unpredicatble by the 'recipient'
;D