This helpdesk research report identifies current trends in donor support for improved governance and provides information on levels of expenditure on governance. Its findings are based on information gleaned from donors’ websites, studies by donors, academics and research organisations, and from comments from experts and donor staff.
It is possible to identify four areas of growing focus amongst donors (either in the sense that more donors are working on these issues or that key donors are becoming particularly focused on these issues):
- Anti-corruption initiatives (OECD, World Bank, EU/EC, ADB, Germany, Denmark, UK, USAID)
- Governance work relating to conflict, statebuilding and fragile-states (EU/EC, AfDB, ADB, Germany, Canada, Denmark, Norway, UK, the Netherlands, USAID)
- Demand-side governance work such as efforts to boost popular participation in decision-making (OECD, World Bank, UNDP, Canada, Denmark, UK)
- Taxation (OECD, UNDP, AfDB, UK, Norway)