The impact of COVID-19 on development assistance
| DOI | 10.1177/0020702020986888 |
| Date | 01 March 2021 |
| Published date | 01 March 2021 |
| Author | Stephen Brown |
| Subject Matter | Scholarly Essay |
Scholarly Essay
The impact of COVID-19
on development
assistance
Stephen Brown
School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa,
Ottawa, Canada
Abstract
This article analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on foreign aid. Using exam-
ples from Canadian foreign aid, it argues that, despite the terrible toll it is exacting, the
crisis has accelerated some significant positive pre-existing trends, both by destabilizing
the perceptionof aid as flowing essentially fromthe Global North to Global South and by
reinforcing awareness of the importance of joint efforts for global public goods and
humanitarian assistance, as well as debt relief. However, it has also reinforced potentially
harmful self-interested justifications for aid, which could align assistance more with
donors’ priorities than the needs ofthe poor. An importanttrend reversal is the renewed
emphasis on well-being. Two other crucial trends remain unclear—the COVID-19 pan-
demic’s impact on multilateral approaches and on aid flows. How donors respond to the
COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath over the next few years will depend on their
political will, and will profoundly shape the future of development co-operation.
Keywords
Foreign aid, humanitarian assistance, COVID-19, poverty, Canada
The COVID-19 pandemic caused, in early 2020, the most serious global economic
and health crisis in decades, if not a century. Around the world, hundreds of
Corresponding author:
Stephen Brown, School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa,120 University Private, 7th Floor, K1N 6N5,
Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5, Canada.
Email: brown@uottawa.ca
International Journal
2021, Vol. 76(1) 42–54
!The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/0020702020986888
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