Project

ODA in the Mutual Interest of Donors and Recipients

Providing solid evidence for public debate and political decision-making: How official development assistance (ODA) can simultaneously serve donor countries’ national interests and promote progress in partner countries.

Start of Project: 10.2024 — End of Project: 09.2026

There is an urgent need to reconsider what foreign aid, specifically Official Development Assistance (ODA), is for and how it can bring the most benefit. While much research exists on its impact in recipient countries, this project aims to contribute urgently needed evidence on the ways in which ODA can be mutually beneficial for donor and recipient countries alike.

The concept of mutual interest ODA directly responds to the current drivers of aid cuts. The limitations of the moral case for aid are being acutely felt as donor countries face domestic pressures such as economic stagnation, rising debt, and a shift towards security and competition. Meanwhile, recipient nations are demanding equitable partnerships, rejecting outdated paternalistic models. Current geopolitical dynamics further complicate traditional ODA relationships. These shifts pose risks: reduced aid impacts capacity to respond to global challenges, while redirecting it to serve short-term donor interests undermines its effectiveness. But they also offer the opportunity to redesign ODA. To prevent excessive cuts and the inefficient use of existing ODA funds, we must first understand how specific forms of ODA can be truly beneficial for recipients and how these benefits can in turn serve donors’ national and international interests.

We identify where ODA can be effective in promoting mutual interests and propose a new approach to using ODA, so that policymakers can make the right judgments as to the level and type of ODA that will be most effective in addressing mutual goals.