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Useful Links

Useful links and further reading towards reforming the measurement of Official Development Assistance.

Critiques - New Rules on ODA Loans:

01.

Roodman, D., Center for Global Development, December 2014: "Political Compromise is not mathematically beautiful"
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02.

Roodman, D., Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 2015: “On Measuring Loan Concessionality in Official Development Assistance” 
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03.

​Ritchie, E., Center for Global Development, November 2020: “Mismeasuring ODA— How Risky Actually Are Aid Loans?”
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Critiques of the New Rules on Reporting Debt Relief as ODA:

01.

EURODAD, May 2020: “Will donors finally agree on fair rules for reporting debt relief as ODA?”
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02.

EURODAD, June 2020: “Donor countries will undermine the integrity of aid if they continue reporting debt relief as ODA”
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03.

Position paper of CSO group, July 2020: “Joint civil society submission to the July 2020 OECD Development Assistance Committee meeting addressing debt relief reporting measures”
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04.

DEVEX, August 2020: “OECD DAC issues new rules that count debt relief as ODA”
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05.

Rivera, J., ONE, August 2020: “Why the DAC’s latest move is bad for global development”
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06.

Ritchie, E., Center for Global Development, October 2020: “New DAC Rules on Debt Relief – A Poor Measure of Donor Effort”
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07.

EURODAD, November 2020: “Four challenges when it comes to reporting debt relief as ODA”
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08.

Riegler, H., Globale Verantwortung, November 2020: “New rules on reporting debt relief as aid lack credibility and signal a decline in the OECD's statistical culture”
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09.

Ritchie, E., Center for Global Development Europe, September 2020: “Measuring ODA: Four Strange Features of the New DAC Debt Relief Rules”
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10.

Ritchie, E., Center for Global Development Europe, May 2021: “Do ODA Loan Rules Incentivise Lending to Poorer Countries?”
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11.

Cutts, S., Brookings, April 2022, “Give credit where credit’s due: Development assistance in loans should reflect donor effort”
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Further and wider critiques and suggestions for change:

01.

Scott, S., Brookings, September 2019: “A note on current problems with ODA as a statistical measure”
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02.

Scott, S., and Moorehead, S., Brookings, November 2019: “The ongoing debate on the reform of the definition of Official Development Assistance”
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03.

Bissio, R., Global Policy Watch, Blog, December 2019: “ODA: Can the players also be scorekeepers?”
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04.

Riegler, H., Globale Verantwortung, March 2020: “Some reflections and suggestions on the June 2019 TOSSD Reporting Instructions”
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05.

BLOG: Rogerson, A. and Ritchie, E., Center for Global Development, December 2020: “Playing Snakes and Ladders with International Development Aid: When Fragile Accounting Rules and Political Pressures Mix” 
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07.

PAPER: Rogerson, A. and Ritchie, E., Center for Global Development, December 2020: “ODA in Turmoil: Why Aid Definitions and Targets Will Come Under Pressure in the Pandemic Age, and What Might be Done About It?”
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08.

Scott, S., and Riegler, H., Global Policy Watch, June 2021, Blog “Mismeasuring foreign aid”
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09 i.

Cutts, S., Letters to the DAC Chair and attached papers (February/April 2022)
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09 ii.

Cutts, S., Letters to the DAC Chair and attached papers (February/April 2022)
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09 iii.

Cutts, S., Letters to the DAC Chair and attached papers (February/April 2022)
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09 iv.

Cutts, S., Letters to the DAC Chair and attached papers (February/April 2022)
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09 v.

Cutts, S., Letters to the DAC Chair and attached papers (February/April 2022)
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10.

Bureau of Investigative Journalism, March 2022, “UK could use vaccine donations to slash £140m from foreign aid spending”
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11.

Dissanayake, R., Center for Global Development, April 2022, “Lies, Damned Lies and Aid Statistics”
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12.

Cutts, S., Financial Times, July 2022, “Overseas Aid Statistics Are Not Credible”
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13.

Horti, S., Daily Telegraph, August 2022, “Using Leftover Donations of Covid Vaccines as Foreign Aid Could Slash Humanitarian Spending”
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14.

Mitchell, I. & Birdsall, N., Foreign Affairs, September 2022, “The Unkept Promises of Western Aid - How Donor Countries Cook Their Books and Let Down the Developing World”
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15.

Oxfam, October 2022, “Climate Finance Short-Changed: The Real Value of the $100 Billion Commitment in 2019-20”
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16.

Cutts, S., October 2022, Letter to the OECD Deputy Secretary-General for the Development Cluster and attached annexes
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17.

Cutts, S., October 2022, Letter to the OECD Deputy Secretary-General for the Development Cluster and attached annexes
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18,

Cutts, S., October 2022, Letter to the OECD Deputy Secretary-General for the Development Cluster and attached annexes
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19.

Cutts, S., The Guardian, November 2022, “Who is Really to Blame for British Aid Not Reaching Poorer Countries”
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20.

Devex, November 2022, “Devex Explains: Are We Overcounting ODA by Tens of Billions”
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21.

Ritchie, E., Development Initiatives, February 2023, “The DAC debates: why aid measurement matters for development”
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PSI:

01.

Atwood, B, Manning, R. and Riegler, H., Brookings, December 2018: “Don’t undermine the basic architecture of OECD/DAC statistics: A Letter of warning” (Open letter by former DAC/WP-STAT Chairs to the DAC Chair)
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02.

Craviotto, N. / Caio, C., EURODAD, February 2021: “Time for action: How private sector instruments are undermining aid budgets” (blog)
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03.

Craviotto, N. / Caio, C., EURODAD, February 2021: “Time for action: How private sector instruments are undermining aid budgets” (report)
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Governance

01.

Scott, S., Statistika, December 2020: “Lessons from the Crisis in Foreign Aid Statistics”
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02.

Lomoy, J., LOMOYBLOG, February 2021: “What is aid – and who decides? Time to give developing countries a seat at the table!”
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03.

Kenny, C. and Mitchell, I., Center for Global Development, March 2023, “Is It Time to Challenge the DAC? A ‘Real Assistance Committee’ Could Help Fix Broken Rules on What Counts as Development Spend”
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