The g7+ group of the poorest nations wants aid focused on addressing conflict and security. Could this be the year donors start to listen?
About a year ago, officials from seven fragile states met out of donor earshot to compare notes and air their grievances about how billions of dollars of donor money has been spent on peacebuilding and statebuilding over the years.
Dili, Timor-Leste's capital, was the perfect place to host the first meeting of the g7+ of fragile states – Timor-Leste, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Ivory Coast and others. If there's one country that knows about the shortcomings of international aid, its Timor-Leste. More than $8.8bn of aid has been poured into the country, only about a tenth of which has entered the local economy.
Initially heavily aid-dependant after being freed from Indonesian rule in 1999, the half-island nation had much of its infrastructure destroyed by the departing Indonesian military and its militia allies, severely damaging key sectors like health. A slew of aid organisations then set up shop but failed to co-ordinate with local officials exactly what was needed to rebuild the nation.
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