Spatial spillover effects of official development assistance on environmental pressure in sub-Saharan African(SSA)countries

Impoverished sub-Saharan Africa(SSA)is under increasing environmental pressure from global environmental changes.It is now generally accepted in academic circles that economic development in SSA countries can cause environmental pressure in other countries.However,there is research gap on the impact of economic assistance on environmental pressure in SSA countries and whether economic assistance causes spatial spillovers of environ-mental pressure between SSA countries.To better understand the impact of economic assistance on environmental pressures in SSA,a dynamic spatial Dubin panel model was developed.It helped us explore the spatial spillover effects of economic assistance on environmental pressures in recipient countries based on the panel data from 34 SSA countries.The results show that economic assistance had a positive stimulating effect on environmen-tal pressures of recipient countries,which means that the degree of human disturbance to the environment has deepened.Due to the regional correlation effect,neighboring countries were saddled with environmental pres-sures from the target country.Moreover,environmental pressures have time inertia,which can easily produce a snowball effect.The decomposition of effects shows that the impact of economic assistance on environmental pressures is relatively minor.Environmental pressures have spillover effects,so to deal with diffuse risks,joint regional prevention and control policies should be developed.

US-China Competition in International Development Assistance

China and the US differ sharply in their models of international development assistance. Because the US strengthens development assistance as a strategic investment, it has a privileged position under current international rules. China has expanded in regional markets using more cooperation and is there recreating the rules in trade, investment and infrastructure. To deal with China’s policy on international development,the Trump administration is promoting a geoeconomic game and trying to make its US model more attractive. This gives a glimpse into how the US has begun a systematic balancing. International development assistance has been a security tool,and now becomes the main battlefield of competition between the two countries.

日本卫生发展援助及其对中国卫生合作的启示

目的梳理日本卫生发展援助现状及策略,探讨其对中国参与国际卫生合作的启示。方法使用PEST分析法,从政治(political)、经济(economic)、社会(social)和技术(technological)四方面分析日本卫生发展援助的外部环境,用近年日本卫生发展援助的统计数据分析日本卫生发展援助的特点,包括援助规模、途径、地区和领域。结果日本卫生发展援助具有有利的社会环境。2012—2016年日本卫生发展援助总额占官方发展援助总额的8.59%,卫生发展援助资金主要由多边机构提供,越南、印度等是援助资金的最大流入国,援助集中解决卫生政策、初级卫生保健等卫生问题。结论建议中国参与国际卫生合作时首先明确自身优势,注重打造国家品牌,通过双边卫生合作助力提升中国多边卫生议题的设置能力,进而提高中国全球卫生治理水平。

Pool Civil Wisdom to Assist Social Development——Sidelights of Civil Society 20 China

Civil Society 20 China 2016(C20)was successfully convened in Qingdao on July 5th and 6th.Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a message of congratulations to the Conference.State Councilor Yang Jiechi attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech.Sun Jiazheng,Vice-Chairman of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and President of China

Effect of Donor Funding on the Performance of Water Utilities in Kenya

The objective of this study was to analyse the effect of donor funding on the performance of water utilities in Kenya.The study employed the use of a census by targeting all 88 regulated Water Services Providers(WSPs)in Kenya for a period of two years,2016 and 2017.Data pertaining to the support received from the donors were obtained from the publications of the WSPs,Development Partners,Civil Society Organisations(CSOs),and Office of Auditor General(OAG).Performance data of the various WSPs were extracted from the Impact reports produced by Water Regulatory Board(WASREB),for the periods 2016/7 to 2017/8.Presentation of the data was done through the use of tables and charts with the application of SPSS.The study found that donor funding issued as Output Based Approach(OBA)leads to improved performance.This finding is expected to assist the Kenyan Government in negotiating for the Official Development Assistance(ODA)funding to be aligned to the government flagship projects under the Medium Term Plans(MTP).The study recommends OBA as the best way of issuing donor funding.

Determinants of China’s development assistance for health at the sub-national level of African countries(2006-2015)

Background:Despite the increasing interest in China’s development assistance for health(DAH)in African countries,little is known regarding the distribution and determinants of China’s DAH project allocation among the principle subdivisions(provinces&states)within African countries.Methods:We mapped the distribution of China’s DAH projects in 670 principle subdivisions of 50 African countries during 2006-2015 using web-based information.The political,demographic,health and socioeconomic indicators of DAH allocation were analyzed using conditional logistic regression models.The national capital city and political leader’s birth place were selected as the main political indicators,and health indicators were selected according to different fields of the DAH projects.Results:China’s DAH projects(mainly China medical teams[CMTs],hospitals and anti-malaria centers)were mostly allocated to the western and eastern coasts of Africa,although CMTs were also dispatched to northern Africa.National capital cities were significantly associated with the allocation of China’s DAH projects(P<0.001).Antimalaria centers were more likely to be allocated to principle subdivisions with larger populations(OR=1.35),and CMTs were allocated to subdivisions with high population densities(OR=79.01).No health-related indicators were identified to affect project allocation except for the facility delivery rate and under-five mortality rate,which were associated with hospital allocation.We also found an association between CMT allocation and the use of artemisinin-based combination therapy in children.Conclusions:Allocation of China’s DAH projects is strongly affected by political and demographic factors.Implementation of China’s new DAH projects should target health and socio-economic indicators and impact metrics in scaling up tailored and cost-effective programs in Africa.

Blind spots in climate finance for innovation Peter WARREN

International climate finance is a sub-set of green finance and refers to investments specifically in climate change mitigation and adaptation activities,which primarily involve public finance and the leveraging of private finance in developing countries.In addition to continued international support for scaling low carbon solutions and facilitating replicability in developing countries,there remains an important need to increase the amount of climate finance provided to innovation,particularly demonstration(for technology innovation)and pilot implementation(for policy innovation),and to channel a greater proportion of Official Development Assistance(ODA)to‘hard-to-abate'areas,such as industrial decarbonisation,international transport and cross-sectoral issues like cooling and behavioural insights,to accelerate the commercialisation and implementation of technological,linancial and policy solutions to contribute to meeting the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting global warming to‘well-below'2℃ in these countries.Linking research,development and demonstration(RD&D)support with technical assistance is important in providing the route to obtain wider donor finance(concessional finance)and private finance to enable deployment through scalability and replicability.