Donor Proliferation and Co-ordination: Experiences of Kenya and Indonesia

Abstract

One of the main problems associated with aid is the proliferation of donors and projects, and one of the main solutions is thought to lie in greater coordination between donors. This paper examines whether progress has been made in recent years, comparing two countries (Kenya and Indonesia) and two sectors.The research process itself, in particular the difficulty of obtaining seemingly straightforward information, provides insights into the fragmented aid business. Nevertheless the combination of quantitative and qualitative methods provides a clear overall picture: proliferation worsened between 2000 and 2005—06 while progress in coordination was uneven. Other findings concern the interdependence of donor coordination and intra-government coordination and the similarity of the overall experience of the two countries despite their different levels of economic development.