That is a new idea advocated by Nemat Shafik, the outgoing Permanent Secretary in charge of the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) in a new working paper. For Shafik,
- The United Nations should be in charge of peace and security issues and humanitarian affairs;
- The World Bank and regional development banks should be in charge of development finance;
- Bilateral agencies (e.g., USAID and DFID) should be in charge of delivering health and education interventions; and
- Foundations and philanthropies should be in charge of development innovations.
This strikes me as a sensible idea. The division of labor suggested by Shafik would increase accountability — something that is in short supply in the development world. The only difficulty is that such a division of labor will be extremely difficult to enforce if it comes to pass, what with everyone trying to get credit for “helping out.”
(HT: Roving Bandit.)
