Photo by the NewAidModel team. South Sudanese refugee in Northern Uganda.
Embark on an exchange of knowledge and ideas to develop a New Aid Model
We are living in a time, where the rule-based international order is challenged, the relationship between the Global North and Global South is drastically changing and humanitarian and development resources are severely reduced.
We wish to discuss what can be done in this situation to ensure that aid is provided in the most effective way and how use of scarce resources can be optimised.
Contact
To participate in the discussions, kindly mail your contribution to nharild@gmail.com
Niels Harild is a Danish economist with 40+ years of working in humanitarian and development issues especially related to forced displacement for UNHCR and World Bank.
Niels is assisted by Renée Boskaljon. Renée is a Dutch migration researcher and independent journalist based in Spain. She holds a master's degree in Refugee Protection and Forced Migration studies from SOAS University of London.
Others are volunteering to provide services in relation to both content and presentation.
Renée Boskeljon
Niels Harild
Context and Background
The poly-crisis - climate, war in Ukraine and Gaza, challenges to the rule-based world system, growing inequality, weakening democracy, etc. - fueled by the Trump 2.0 shock treatment, has pulled the rug under the traditional approaches to humanitarian and development work. A severe reduction in Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) is very likely.
Many of us have for years and even decades argued that there are fundamental crack lines in the humanitarian business model. Others have questioned the objectives and effectiveness of development aid. The needed changes have not materialized in any significant way.
Fundamental change is now required by force and circumstance.
To facilitate a discussion on a new aid model, a small group of humanitarian and development experts has started this initiative. While some of the members wish presently not to be named given their present commitments, Niels Harild will be representing the group. The initiative is open source and fully based on voluntary efforts and hence not bound by funding or institutional restrictions. Although members may hold strong opinions, it is the intention to facilitate as open and unbiased discussions as possible. We hope contributions will be submitted in this cooperative spirit.
How does this website work?
Input to discussions
In this section - subpage - we will publish inputs to discussions, which can help towards criticizing the weaknesses of the present aid models and especially present options of what may be the content of a new aid model. We invite a lively - but open and robust - debate involving interested parties. Inputs can be in the form of comments, ideas, questions, or blog style inputs, with or without references to documents submitted to the Evidence and Key Literature page. Inputs can preferably be by name, but may also be anonymous or anonymous with type of institution.
We especially welcome inputs from representatives of the Global South, whether government, researcher, civil society or private sector members. But we hope to engage a broad set of representatives of : Aid receiving governments, donor governments, UN, INGOs, local NGOs, development banks, IFIs, researchers, development experts, local and international business world and civil society at large and any others having a stake in humanitarian and development assistance.
Evidence and Key Literature
Under this section we will select and present existing literature and documents, which provides background, evidence and documentation relevant for developing a New Aid Model. Many of these documents will be presented as links with brief abstracts. We invite interested parties to submit relevant documents.
Critical Key Points
While the Discussion subsection will be a brainstorming of ideas, in this section, we will continuously attempt to analyse and draw out the most pertinent points, which emerges from the discussions and evidence and key literature pages. While we allow a broad section of unedited inputs to the discussions page, we will in this section present what we believe are the most critical and important points in order to establish a new aid model.