The Changing Nature of International Aid

Project Summary

COVID-19 and the 2020 racial justice movement both amplified the need for international aid and challenged the legitimacy and effectiveness of current aid activities, necessitating a widespread “rethink” of international aid policy and practice. RIPIL supported this effort through a series of workshops that identified and explored pressing research questions on the role of international aid today. The workshops focused on: (1) the changing ways in which recipient governments engage with international donors; (2) the interactions between international aid actors and non-state armed groups when providing aid and social services; (3) the practical implications of decolonizing aid, and (4) the changing nature of US foreign assistance.

Our Team

• Susanna Campbell, American University

• Hilary Matfess, University of Denver (Co-PI)

• ‘Dapo Oyewole, Dignity Collective (Co-PI)

• Haley Swedlund, Radboud University (Co-PI)

Partner(s)

• Bridging the Gap

• Centre for International Conflict - Analysis and Management at Radboud University

• Dignity Collective

• University of Geneva Africa Lab

• United States Institute of Peace

Project Manager(s)

• Abrehet Gebremedhin, American University

Read the work

Bridging the Gap Between Research and Policy: Lessons from Co-Creation in the Aid Sector

Who is in Charge? Power Dynamics and Aid in Africa

Power Dynamics in Foreign Aid (Consultation Report)

Project Status

Further publications forthcoming

Cover image of project: photo credit