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A conditionality in international development is a condition attached to a loan or to debt relief, typically by the International Monetary Fund, World Bank or in the case of bilateral aid, the donor country. Conditionalities may involve relatively uncontroversial requirements to enhance aid effectiveness, such as anti-corruption measures, but they may involve highly controversial ones, such as austerity or the privatization of key public services, which may provoke strong political opposition in the recipient country. These conditionalities are often grouped under the label structural adjustment.

Other types of conditionality that often occur are aid which is tied to be used on a specific way. For example, many countries tie aid to the purchasing of domestic products, although this practice has drastically decreased over the past 15 years. The United Nations Human Development Report in 2005 estimated that only about 8% of bilateral aid is 'tied', down from 27% in 1990. This however varies from country to country with the United Kingdom, Ireland and Norway giving 100% of their aid untied, and Canada, Austria and Spain giving less than 60%. ^[1]

[edit] See also

• development aid
• structural adjustment
• IMF
• World Bank
• HIPC

[edit] References

Axel Dreher (2002). The Development and Implementation of IMF and World Bank Conditionality. HWWA. ISSN 1616-4814.

[edit] External links

• Conditionality in IMF-supported programs - overview [2]
• David Hall and Robin de la Motte, Dogmatic Development: Privatisation and conditionalities in six countries, War on Want [3]
• "The Future of Aid Conditionality", Globalization Institute [4]
• Big Picture TV Free video clip of Martin Khor (Director, Third World Network) speaking about structural adjustment
• ActionAid, April 2004, "Money talks: How aid conditions continue to drive utility privatisation in poor countries"fr:Conditionnalité