Background
Development and the relationship of countries of the North and South have been richly and controversially debated. Assistance and especially official development assistance (ODA) from donor countries and multilateral agencies is an important aspect of international cooperation between richer and poorer countries. Many urge that richer nations recognize their responsibility to help alleviate poverty and promote sustainable development in the less developed countries. Many countries of the North however still do not accept this responsibility and do not meet the UN target of 0.7% of their GDP as ODA.
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In recent years, the issue of development aid whether in the form of financial or technical assistance, has been subject to still closer scrutiny. Despite large flows of development aid, many of the recipient countries still suffered from slow or no growth and less than ideal improvement in the socioeconomic conditions of their people. This is in large part attributed to mal-governance and corruption.
The corruption surrounding development aid, and the seemingly large amount of waste and inefficient use of aid money have led to demands by ordinary tax payers and civil society groups in donor countries to introduce stringent measures to curb corruption. Some have even called for development aid to be cut or curtailed in places where corruption is rampant and where no effective measures are put in place to counter it. An indicator of this mood among developed countries was the US position at the UN Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey where President Bush specifically tied the promise to increase ODA to good governance among the recipient countries.
Not all developing countries accept such conditions to the grant of ODA. Some also point to the negative impact that ODA loans and foreign investment can and has made on their domestic system of governance. There is evidence that they have contributed to the problems of corruption in some countries, rather than relieving them.
To contribute to the ongoing discussions on corruption and development aid, and how the issue can be resolved without being detrimental to the continued needs of poorer countries, the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), Transparency International Malaysia and the Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA) are co-organizing a 2-day conference on this theme: “Corruption and Development Aid. This conference is part of KAS continued support for the important agenda of promoting good governance in the region. For the SIIA, the conference is part of its work on sustainable development and governance, and the anti-corruption conference it held in mid-2001 on corruption after the Asian crisis.
