International aid: Weak States
International aid: Early Foreign Aid
International aid: Foreign Aid during the Cold War
International aid: Adjustment Programs
International aid: Poverty Reduction and Recent Development Models
International aid: Millennium Development Goals
International aid: Types of Aid and Harmonization
International aid: Levels of Aid, Aid Quality, and Evaluation
International aid: Global Public Goods
International aid: Private Initiatives and New Donors
International aid: A New Way Forward
If viable institutions and policies are conducive to effectiveuse of aid,what should be done inweak or failed stateswhere these do not exist? Such states usually lack the governance, institutions, and necessary leadership for successful reform. Each incompetent government has its own specific problems, and aid interventions must be tailored to addressing and overcoming these. A growing specialist literature has examined the lessons of interventions in weak states, and a number of pointers to supporting such countries have emerged. It has been shown that knowledge transfer and capacity building are more effective than large-scale financial transfers and that improving basic services such as health and education is also important. In such situations, the potential role for theUnitedNations, in particular in terms of coordination, is often underestimated and tends to be inadequately resourced in terms of personnel and funds. While Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Uganda are postconflict success stories, unfortunately many other countries have seen little significant progress in the past decade.The challenge for aid agencies is to remain engaged but not to throw good money after bad policies. Part of the response lies in attention to coherence between aid and other policies, especially in weak states and in countries beset by conflict, as emphasized by Collier (2007).