THE FORMER Deputy of USAID, Professor Carol Lancaster, yesterday praised Cyprus’ official direct aid (ODA) organisation, CyprusAid, and expressed her optimism about the future.
“They have got off to a very good start. All things being equal, CyprusAid has a bright future. I wish I were in their shoes so that I could share in the development of this exciting new programme.”
Lancaster was speaking ahead of a lecture she delivered last night on aid-giving at the Cyprus Centre for European and International affairs.
Entitled ‘Opportunities and Challenges of Aid-giving: Lessons from 50 years of Experience’, the lecture was attended by policymakers, representatives of organisations actively involved in aid, diplomats, academics, students and the general public.
Lancaster is now Dean of Georgetown University’s Walsh school. She discussed contemporary issues in the foreign aid industry and the way governments organise themselves to provide aid, how to make it effective and special lessons for small donors like Cyprus.
She emphasised the need for good planning and structure to make ODA effective. “The lesson from history is that if you do not have in place a system and policy to guide you, or a plan to evaluate the programme, aid can be ineffective or, even worse, end up in scandals.”
Asked whether the credit crunch has affected ODA, she explained that while foreign direct investment (FDI), remittances, international trade and commodity prices have all decreased, ODA has increased.
“It has not been affected yet [by the crisis], in fact it has continued to rise. I expect that there is a lag time. In the US, aid might be cut when Obama decides to reduce the federal budget.”
CyprusAid, which administers the provision of government aid to foreign countries, has been in operation for over four years. In 2007, the latest year for which ODA statistics were available, Cyprus gave USD$25 million and its contribution to the European Development budget was $11 million. Among the recipients of Cypriot aid are Lesotho, Mali and Yemen.
The lecture is the latest in the Kapuscinski lecture series, named after the Polish Writer Ryszard Kapuscinski, and is organised jointly by the European Commission, United Nations Development Programme and partner universities.
Kapuscinski, whose books were translated into tens of languages, was nicknamed the “Third World chronicler” or the “voice of the poor” for his famous reports and books describing developing countries on all continents.
The series offers students from 12 new EU member states an unprecedented opportunity to learn and discuss development and issues related to development cooperation. According to UNDP figures, the 12 countries’ combined development assistance from these countries should reach €1 billion in 2010.
Previously, Lancaster was the Deputy Administrator of the US Agency for International Development from 1993 to 1996, worked at the US State Department as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 1980-81 and for the Policy Planning Staff from 1977-80. In addition, she worked for the Office of Management and Budget and for several Congressmen.
