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Does allocating large amounts of international aid specifically for fighting HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa have an influence on mortality rates in this region? This paper explores the relationship between total Official Development Assistance and Official Development Assistance earmarked for HIV/AIDS with AIDS mortality and overall mortality within Sub-Saharan Africa between 2000 and 2006. There are no definitive findings from this study to conclude that the amount of any form of assistance aid has a positive or negative effect on mortality. The results suggest that focusing on establishing greater development and less government corruption would more effectively alleviate the high mortality rates in Sub-Saharan Africa than increasing funding for HIV/AIDS.

The field of international development has always been intertwined with the economic thought dominant in the West. Even before its conception with the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe, it carried a strong Keynesian preference for the state. The neoliberal assault on the welfare state in the 80s, followed by the partnership era that brought both the public and the private sector together to work for a common cause have been the focus of attention by development scholars and others alike. The present study focuses on a multilateral development aid agency, the Global Fund, which funds public-private partnerships in the field of health care in developing countries. Drawing on the debates surrounding the welfare state and the civil society, as well as the debates surrounding the public-privates partnerships, the present study poses three questions in relation to the Global Fund: (1) how are the diseases framed in the partnership framework, (2) what are the roles of the private sector in partnership, and (3) what are the roles of the public sector in partnerships. Based on the textual analysis of fifteen proposals approved by the Global Fund in the sixth round of funding, this dissertation tries to situate the working of the Global Fund, and the proposals it funds, within the larger debates surrounding development and partnerships. The findings of the present study are: (1) the diseases are framed largely in socio-economic terms, (2) the private (for-profit) sector is marginalized in the discussion and implementation of proposals, (3) the civil society participation is seen as essential to the success of the proposals, and (3) the state is seen as important in the discussion of the diseases, although there is a great deal of ambiguity surrounding the roles of the public sector in partnerships. It is hypothesized in the concluding chapter that the reason Global Fund is able to attract a great deal of funds and support from actors across the political spectrum could be because the organization funds programs that foreground civil society, liked by people of different political inclinations, and backgrounds the discussion of the state, the epicenter of controversies surrounding development. By being “strategically ambiguous” about the role of the state in the development of the people, the proposals are made apolitical and appealing to people both on the left and the right.

The field of international development has always been intertwined with the economic thought dominant in the West. Even before its conception with the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe, it carried a strong Keynesian preference for the state. The neoliberal assault on the welfare state in the 80s, followed by the partnership era that brought both the public and the private sector together to work for a common cause have been the focus of attention by development scholars and others alike. The present study focuses on a multilateral development aid agency, the Global Fund, which funds public-private partnerships in the field of health care in developing countries. Drawing on the debates surrounding the welfare state and the civil society, as well as the debates surrounding the public-privates partnerships, the present study poses three questions in relation to the Global Fund: (1) how are the diseases framed in the partnership framework, (2) what are the roles of the private sector in partnership, and (3) what are the roles of the public sector in partnerships. Based on the textual analysis of fifteen proposals approved by the Global Fund in the sixth round of funding, this dissertation tries to situate the working of the Global Fund, and the proposals it funds, within the larger debates surrounding development and partnerships. The findings of the present study are: (1) the diseases are framed largely in socio-economic terms, (2) the private (for-profit) sector is marginalized in the discussion and implementation of proposals, (3) the civil society participation is seen as essential to the success of the proposals, and (3) the state is seen as important in the discussion of the diseases, although there is a great deal of ambiguity surrounding the roles of the public sector in partnerships. It is hypothesized in the concluding chapter that the reason Global Fund is able to attract a great deal of funds and support from actors across the political spectrum could be because the organization funds programs that foreground civil society, liked by people of different political inclinations, and backgrounds the discussion of the state, the epicenter of controversies surrounding development. By being “strategically ambiguous” about the role of the state in the development of the people, the proposals are made apolitical and appealing to people both on the left and the right.

Dependent Communities investigates the political situations in contemporary Cambodia and East Timor, where powerful international donors intervened following deadly civil conflicts. This comparative analysis critiques international policies that focus on rebuilding state institutions to accommodate the global market. In addition, it explores the dilemmas of politicians in Cambodia and East Timor who struggle to satisfy both wealthy foreign benefactors and constituents at home-groups whose interests frequently conflict.Hughes argues that the policies of Western aid organizations tend to stifle active political engagement by the citizens of countries that have been torn apart by war. The neoliberal ideology promulgated by United Nations administrations and other international NGOs advocates state sovereignty, but in fact "sovereignty" is too flimsy a foundation for effective modern democratic politics. The result is an oppressive peace that tends to rob survivors and former resistance fighters of their agency and aspirations for genuine postwar independence.In her study of these two cases, Hughes demonstrates that the clientelist strategies of Hun Sen, Cambodia's postwar leader, have created a shadow network of elites and their followers that has been comparatively effective in serving the country's villages, even though so often coercive and corrupt. East Timor's postwar leaders, on the other hand, have alienated voters by attempting to follow the guidelines of the donors closely and ignoring the immediate needs and voices of the people.Dependent Communities offers a searing analysis of contemporary international aid strategies based on the author's years of fieldwork in Cambodia and East Timor.

This research study investigates the role of international aid in public service reform and capacity building in the context of post-communist Albania. It takes a two-pronged approach towards exploring the interaction between the key research variables. First, challenging the technocratic, results-based management frameworks used by aid organizations, it offers a qualitative and critical assessment of the role of aid in a specific arena, administrative reform and capacity building, given its significance as key to (and conditionality for) the EU accession process. Secondly, the research points to the specificity of the national politico-administrative context and its ability to modify the process of policy transfer from aid organizations to the Albanian bureaucracy. In doing so, it attempts to illustrate the domestic challenges in the transfer process towards policy learning thus making a contribution to the debate over the (voluntary vs. coercive) administrative reform in Southeast Europe in relation to the politics of EU accession. Therefore, the findings of the study are two-fold. First, based on the multi-level analysis of policy transfer, the research provides an account of (aid-supported) policies/programmes and institutions/mechanisms of transfer towards administrative reform and capacity building. Thus, the analysis reveals the conflicting nature of international aid via the dichotomy between the ‘career’ versus ‘managerialist’ approaches promoted respectively by the EU and the WB as the drivers of administrative reform in post-communist Albania. The study maintains that aid towards administrative reform and capacity building has been confined to regulatory frameworks while its impact on the capacities of the public sector HRM functions has been rather limited. Besides, it claims that programmes and mechanisms of transfer have supported alignment with EU standards and compliance with global aid effectiveness agenda towards a broader public sector reform. The study concludes that while administrative reform and capacity building are conditionality for EU accession, the significantly reduced funding combined with the use of alternative policy incentives (signing into SAA in 2006 and admission into the Schengen agreement in 2010) might be taken to indicate a silent abandonment of administrative reform as a national matter. The findings suggest that this has indeed led to a complacent relationship between the EU and Albania, which may jeopardize the country’s chances of accession into the EU. The study also challenges the views of the literature locating Albania among countries which have adopted the hybrid NWS, drawing on both NPM and Weberian reform doctrines. Accounts of an adversarial and polarized political culture in which political patronage and high staff turnover persist, coupled with a hierarchy-/clan-based administrative culture may explain the ability of the national context not only to modify but also to block policy transfer. The findings imply that the Albanian case provides a ‘classic’ example whereby transfer based on reform doctrines has been used by governing elites to solidify their political position. While the above may explain non-transfer towards policy learning, the role of aid is also reduced by other factors including overreliance on NGOs as ‘implementation partners’, ‘mixed feedback’ to bureaucrats and ‘strong’ informal donor-beneficiary-contractor networks characterized by a certain ability to affect donor behaviour.

Recently, the international community has turned its eyes to Africa and the tumultuous situation present there. Sudan presents a case study that exemplifies grievous consequences of international neglect and of domestic regime abuse. As a geographically large country rich in natural resources and with prime location, Sudan has drawn international attention with its civil war raging between mainly the North and South. The conflict has numerous roots ranging from political to economic to ethnic. The Darfur genocide showed the culminating consequences of the conflict. Hence, Sudan has bcome a prime candidate for international aid from outside nation-states such as the United States, from private humanitarian organizations, and from international organizations such as the United Nations. However, outside aid has created mixed results in terms of improving Sudan's situation. This study examines the effects of humanitarian aid on the ensuing conflict in Sudan alongside the factors of famine, slavery, and economic variables. While numerous attempts from aid organizations have endeavored to foster peace and improve the overall quality of life for the Sudanese, most have fallen short of their goals due to domestic issues. Peace talks during the conflict continue to falter, and even resolutions demanding peace in the Sudan region have come to a deadlock in the United Nations. Meanwhile, the Sudan people continue to suffer inhumane conditions. This research studies the effectiveness of international influences. It also scrutinizes whether or not aid in Sudan will be able to produce a long-lasting, positive impact on the region with the current regime in power.

It has gone more than 50 years since Sweden officially started organizing and giving development assistance to needing countries. There have been many different Governments with differences in both ideological background and political aim during that time, not only in Sweden but also internationally. How much has circumstances and the different rule affected the Swedish development assistance policies? To answer that question has been the main aim for this thesis. In my study I have focused on the last 22 years, as from 1990 until 2012, and studied one budget proposition for development assistance per Government.  I have also studied some of the most important steering documents, important events and international decisions that have affected the Swedish development policies. Since the budget propositions show the ambitions of the Governments it is also their policies. It is these policies that I will analyze using the two variables: size of the aid, and the goal for the aid. The analysis is has been done using Nikolaos Zahariadis policy theory The Multiple Streams Framework. My study shows that the policies that were adopted 50 years ago still have a large, if not settling, impact on today’s policies. The main goal for the development assistance today only differs on a few words from what was written in proposition 1962:100. The economic goal which is one of the most fundamental parts of today’s development assistance, that one percent of Sweden’s GDP should go to international aid, was first decided in 1968. Finally, I have concluded that both the way the goal of the development assistance has been formulated and how extensive the frame of funding for development assistance has been, haven’t always percental been followed with how much money that have been spent on the budget point development work.

The objective of this thesis is to identify how to take advantage of opportunities – in the construction sector in specific – to contribute to sustainable development at an early stage of intervention in disaster-affected areas. To this aim, the thesis develops a "framework for sustainability", distilling the literature on sustainable, disaster recovery into a succinct set of criteria for the planning and/or evaluation of recovery programmes. What is unique about this framework is its intended suitability to the field of construction in particular. The framework is tested in the thesis against two "case study projects" in construction in disaster areas. Data on these two projects, which took place in the Marmara Region of Turkey, was collected over a period of fieldwork. The findings, arranged in the chronological order of each project's planning/design, implementation, and maintenance, are presented in the latter part of the thesis. This is followed by an analysis chapter, which uses the proposed framework to evaluate the experiences of the two projects. The thesis concludes that sustainable recovery may indeed be supported from an early stage of construction initiatives, by concentrating not only on constructed products, but more importantly, on the construction process itself.