Rewriting the rules of development aid to facilitate transformation

THE global aid landscape is undergoing a significant transformation. Once defined and dominated by Western institutions and priorities, this system is being reshaped by new actors, expectations and geopolitical realities. One of the most important and influential changes is the emergence of China as an alternative development provider, rewriting the way aid is conceived, delivered and valued in partnerships across the Global South.

- WANG XIAOYING

This change is not about replacing one model with another. Its significance runs deeper than that. Fundamentally, it is about alignment — realigning development cooperation and assistance provision to the needs and aspirations of the Global South and aligning global partnerships with the values and imperatives of promoting sustainability, equity and peace central to the sustainable development goals of the UN.

For many decades, the rules and requirements of foreign aid have been set by Western countries, principally the US, the UK and other Western European donors, led by the Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, institutions such as US Agency for International Development and the UK’s now-defunct Department for International Development (DFID), combined with multilateral institutions such as the World Bank.

The universal development model they promoted was grounded in conditionality, governance reform and technocratic planning. This model contributed development gains in health and education, for example, but has critical limitations that have intensified in recent years and deepened into a full-blown crisis.

Western aid is fragmented, politicised and out-of-touch with Global South recipient priorities. Indicative of this is the dismantlement of USAid under the “America First” doctrine of the Donald Trump administration. In parallel, the UK’s aid budget will be cut from 0.5% to 0.3% of its GDP in 2027, and the DFID has been absorbed by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office — signalling a pivot toward diplomacy over poverty reduction.